Wrath of the Wraiths
by mon-ra
Summary: Months after the fall of Moog Magister and Hector Sinistro. Zick and Elena find themselves facing off against a new breed of ghosts created from deceased witches. Worst none of their usual methods have any effect on them. Can they overcome against this seemingly unstoppable foe, or will the be called upon to help them?
1. Dark Awakening

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

It has been six months since Moog Magister and the Dark Tamer Hector Sinistro attempted to infiltrate the Ancient Armory via the 101st door. Six months since Moog Magister met his demise by falling into the lava and Sinistro turning into a monster due to an unforeseen side effect of the Scepter Dom. With the defeat of two of the greatest threats to monster kind, life for young Tamer Ezekiel (Zick) Zick and his friend the young Monster Keeper in training Elena Potato had returned to normal. Or about as normal as it got for them. Right now they were just leaving their monster training class, temporarily held at the old abandoned pier while the Ancient Armory is being repaired, and heading home.

"Holy spit, it's bad enough we have to study for a big math test at school, but also big monster test as well. Not to mention I still need to feed and change Bombolo." Elena complained as she looked through her notes on various monster types.

"You wanted to be a Monster Keeper," Zick said dryly. Although to be honest he did share her views on this matter.

"I don't believe it. After all this time, after all I've done for you; you still don't think I belong do you!" Elena taking offense to his tone.

"What? No that's not what I'm saying." Zick objected. Feeling a bit confused to why she would think that.

"Oh, then what exactly then?" Elena demanded with her arms crossed. Ever since they first met, Zick has shown very little appreciation for everything she has done for him. Often blowing her off to hang out with the other young Tamers or to fawn over Lay Mamery (not that she's jealous or anything); and it's not just Zick either. Even now the other Tamers and Tutors still give her the cold shoulder. Treating her more like an outsider rather than a colleague. In fact the only ones that seem to accept her were the monsters at Barrymore Detention Oasis. As Bombo put it, 'they've always like her even before she was given the gift of Sight'.

"Well...I...um..." Zick hesitated since he knows fully well that the wrong words would incur her wrath.

"Excuse me young man, but aren't you Ezekiel Zick, Mrs. Emily Vermeer nephew?" this man in a fancy suit asked.

"Who wants to know?" Zick asked cautiously but thankful for the interruption. Since the man mentioned Emily Vermeer, Zick worried this could be some sort of trap from his hateful aunt who is also known as the Anguana of Er, the leader of the Anguanes witches and sworn enemy of the Zick Family and monsters in general.

"My name is David Grant, I'm a public attorney and I have important matter to discuss with your parents concerning your aunt." Grant informed him handing the kids his business card. The two kids eyed each other suspiciously wondering if they can trust this guy. Never the less, they agreed to lead him to Zick's house.

* * *

Later at the Zick's residence, Greta and Zob were having tea with Mr. Grant, while Zick and Elena along with the other monsters, were just around the corner trying to eavesdrop. "Well allow me to get to point. When was the last time you or any of your family has seen or heard from Mrs. Vermeer?" Grant asked.

"If I never see that old witch again it will be too soon," Greta sneered. Causing Grant to crook his eye curiously.

"We haven't seen her in awhile now, for several months actually, but that's nothing new, as you can see we didn't really get along that much." Zob said trying not to escalate things.

"Yes well, it has been over 6 months since anyone has heard from her, so the state has no choice but to declare her legally dead." Grant informed them.

"Too bad we can't know for sure," Greta huffed.

"Well not yet, but you see the problem is that she never made a will. Therefore as her only known living relatives, you are her sole beneficiaries to her estate." Grant said.

"When you say estate?" Zob gulped.

"I mean everything; the mansion, her property, her money," Grant confirmed.

"Absolutely not! I want nothing to do with her or her ill gotten gains!" Greta protested.

"Uh honey let's think about this for a moment," Zob trying to calm his wife down. "We don't have to keep it, we can give most of it to charity."

"No means no!" Greta insisted.

"Keep it or get rid of it either way there is a lot of paper work I need you to sign. I just came here as a courtesy to inform you of the situation. I'll be back with the documents in about a week or so. You have until then to think about it." Grant said before leaving.

"Mom, are you sure you don't want to you know," Zick hinting at the idea of keeping Emily's wealth. Even though he hated his Aunt Emily, he had to admit that is a lot of money.

"It's not about the money, Zick. It's about the principle. I refuse to have anything to do with her." Greta snapped.

"Well I think you should reconsider it," said their pet a hairless Sphynx cat who in reality is the Monster Tutor Timothy-Moth or just Timothy in disguise.

"Timothy what are you saying?" Zob asked.

"Emily is the leader of the Anguanes witches. Who knows what sort of secrets she has hidden in her house. This is a golden opportunity we can't afford to waste." Timothy reasoned.

"But Timothy, this is Aunt Emily were talking about. Who knows what sort of booby traps she has around in that place." Zick reasoned, recalling how he and Elena barely got out of there with their lives when they went there to find a cure for vampirism.

"Besides, didn't we burn that place to the ground?" Elena remembering how Zick burned Emily's books when she threatened to turn them all into lizards.

"We only burned her lab," Zick reminded her. "So I'm sure that any information there would have been destroyed."

"That may be, but there's a good chance that she may have replaced them since then. Either way this may be our only opportunity to study a witch's lair." Timothy argued. "Don't worry about traps. I will have a team of specialist to investigate the place from top to bottom to make sure that there are no unpleasant surprises when we get there."

"I still don't like this," Greta voicing her objection but promising not to get in their way.

* * *

A few weeks past and after signing all the legal documents, and settling all the fees and debts; the Zick family along with the other Tamers, Elena, and a few Tutors arrived at Emily's mansion. "Whoa, I could get used to this digs," Teddy Thaur said.

"Hey maybe we can crash here. You know until the Ancient Armory is fixed up." Bobby Clash suggested.

"What absolutely not! This is a witch's home after all, it's far too dangerous." the orange tabby cat known as the Tutor Jeremy argued.

"You know after we secure this place, it might not be a bad idea to use it for temporary lodgings for the Tamers from out of town. We can even assign members of the Guard Tutors to watch over them." Timothy suggested.

Jeremy considered this. True they have needed lodging for the Tamers who came from out of town, and this place is definitely better than the old pier. Of course having a team of Guards to keep an eye on the Tamers would be a plus. "If all goes well with the investigation, then I will think about it." Jeremy decided.

The Tamers and Tutors broke up into teams as they started their investigations. As Timothy surmised, Emily has restored her lab and replaced some of the magic books and items that Zick destroyed, giving the Tutors valuable information on witch's magic. Zob and Terrence manage to find Emily's contact list in her study giving them the names of other witches not only in the area but around the country as well. But not all was going well, Teddy and Bobby would often find themselves falling down some of Emily's trapdoors. Luckily for them, Zick remembered where some of the trapdoors were and was able to rescue them. After laughing at their expense of course.

As the Tamers and Tutors searched the mansion, Lay and Elena decided to check out the back yard. Not too surprisingly her yard was a proverbial garden of herbs and other plants, some poisonous, that were most likely used for magic potions. The only other thing they found out there though was this strange structure made out of stone.

"What do you think this is for?" Elena asked.

"If you ask me it looks kind of like a crypt," Lay said is a spooky voice.

"Well Emily is a witch so I guess something like that wouldn't be too surprising," Elena said calmly.

"You want to check it out?" Lay asked.

"I don't know, maybe we should wait until Timothy of Jeremy examine the place first." Elena suggested.

"What are you scared?" Lay dared her.

"As if!" Elena scoffed running first into the building, with Lay chasing after her. Inside were a long spiral stairway that led them several feet underground. Treading carefully so as to not trigger any traps, the two girls slowly advanced, examining everything twice with their flashlights. Before long they found themselves before a creepy looking double door with strange markings all over it.

"Any ideas what this means?" Lay asks.

"Not sure, but I think this is suppose to be a warning to keep out." Elena recognizing some of the markings from the monster history class.

"What do you think Emily kept in there?" Lay asked.

"Knowing her, it's probably where she keeps her gold." Elena joked. Pulling out an old book and reading some of the markings on the door.

"What is that?" Lay asked.

"This?" Elena indicating her book. "Just a little something I picked up the last time I visited the Anguane Fair. Before you know, burning that place to the ground." Elena explained as she continued to dabble with the markings.

"Wow is there any place that you and Zick been to that haven't burned to the ground?" Lay teased.

Elena simply stuck her tongue out at her companion. "If I'm not mistaken, one of these symbols should unlock the door." Elena figured

"Um, is that really such a good idea?" Lay gulped.

"I'm sure there's no harm in looking. Besides I'm sure whatever is in there, we can handle." Elena said confidently.

"Famous last words," Lay said rolling her eyes.

"I think this is it," Elena said pressing on one of the symbols. As she suspected, the symbols started glowing and the doors opened. Inside they found an empty room with only a single coffin inside. "Well that's a let down," Elena pouted. She really thought she found something of value.

"Yeah great, now can we get out of here? This place is giving me the creeps." Lay begged. She wasn't quite sure why, but Tamer senses were tingling. She was certain that it wasn't any kind of monster or a Dark Phantom, but she was definitely sensing something dangerous here.

Ignoring Lay's warnings, Elena walked up to the coffin and tried to read the inscription. "All is say is 'Char'. I wonder what that means?" Elena said as she brushed away some of the dust, not realizing that she was also rubbing away some of the runes.

"WHO DARES BREAK THE SEAL UPON MY TOMB AND DISTURB MY SLUMBER?" a mysterious voice echoed around the room. The lid of the coffin slowly opened and this grey fog started to leak out. The two girls were paralyzed with fright as this tall figure rose from the coffin.

* * *

Inside the mansion, the Tamers and the Tutors were comparing notes of everything they found. "Say where are Elena and Lay?" Zick wondered after noticing that they were absent.

"They probably up in bedroom trying on all the fancy jewelry," Teddy laughed while admiring the diamond ring he was wearing.

"Yeah you know how girls and trinkets are," Bobby agreed sporting a new gold necklace.

"Take those things off, we don't know if they're cursed of something!" Jeremy demanded hissing at they two young Tamers.

"Alright sheesh," the boys griped taking off their bling.

"But we better go find them. Who knows what might happen to them in this house." Timothy suggested.

"I'm sure they're fine. We haven't found anything too dangerous and those two are the most dependable out of this lot." Jeremy said glaring disapprovingly at the boys' antics.

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" they all heard the girls screaming.

"You were saying?" Timothy said sarcastically.

"Come on we got to go!" Zick running in the direction of the screams. The Tamers and the Tutors quickly followed. Concerned over the fate of his friends, Zick activated his Sight Dom to see where Elena and Lay were. Allowing him to find the crypt quickly. By the time they got to the entrance to the crypt Zick gave off a loud sneeze.

"Uh-oh that's never good," Teddy commented. Whenever Zick sneezed like that usually means a powerful foe is nearby, or his dust allergies were acting up again. You can never tell with someone who's allergic to almost everything.

Inside the tomb, they found Elena and Lay laying on the ground with this strange man standing next to them. He was wearing the traditional robes of the Anguane and the skin on his scalp was sagging over his eyes. No doubt about it in anyone's mind that he is a witch.

"My more Tamers," the man mused before noticing the cats along with the humans. "And Tutors as well. This place has certainly has gotten a lot more lively since I was imprisoned here. Jeremy-Joth is that you? It's been awhile hasn't it. My you've let yourself go."

"Char? No not you." Jeremy choked.

"You know him?" Zick asked.

"We have to stop him now!" Jeremy ordered.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** The Tamer and Tutors began firing their Dom Beams at Char. However being a witch, Dom powers where completely useless against him. Fortunately Zick learned that while he can't effect witches directly, he can still hit them indirectly. Firing his Dom blasts at the ground, Zick set of a minor explosion that should have knocked Char back, but to his bewilderment, Char just stood there as if nothing happened.

"Please stop this. You're just embarrassing yourselves." Char laughed since the Dom beams were about as effective as a flashlight.

"This isn't working," Zob commented.

"Keep firing! We cannot allow him to escape!" Jeremy ordered, still firing at Char.

"Well maybe I just need a power boost," Zick said taking a pair of sunglasses out of his bag. The double layered sunglasses that Elena made specially for him to cover his eyes so that no one would notice them glowing when he's using his Tamer powers. However they also had an added effect. Somehow the glasses also enhances Zick's Energy Dom making his beams even stronger. Putting on his glasses, Zick fired another brighter Dom Blasts. This time the beam manage to knock Char back!

"What the?" Char sputtered in confusion since not only that shouldn't have worked on him, it also effected him in a strange way. As he got back up, Zick blasted him with another enhanced Dom Beam that blew Char all the way to the wall. That second blast just confirmed his suspicions, causing Char to laugh as he got back up. "Well that was quite an impressive display of power young Tamer," Char applauded. "So I shall grant you victory for now, but don't think for a second that you've won. For we shall meet again." Char laughed as he phased through the walls.

"What the? Is he a ghost?" Zick wondered since it would explain that weird vibe he was sensing from him.

"Holy spit what hit us?" Elena groaned as she struggled to get back up. With Lay getting up as well.

"Elena, Lay are you alright?" everyone asked.

"Yeah we're fine. It's just that guy from the coffin. He used some kind of sleeping spell." Lay explained shaking the dizziness from her head.

"Who was he anyway?" Elena moaned still having a headache.

"Well Jeremy?" Everyone turning to the fat cat since they called each other by name.

"I'm sorry but that information is top secret. Protocol demands that a meeting with the Maximum Tutors is required before I can divulge any information." Jeremy argued. Everyone groaned since they know how much of a stiff Jeremy is when it comes to following the rules.

"I believe current circumstances kind of circumvents rules in this case," Timothy argued.

"I suppose so," Jeremy conceded. "His name is Char. He's a former lord of the witches."

"You mean like Moog Magister?"

"No, he was far more powerful, and much more worst." Jeremy gulped, almost afraid to continue.

"I saw him phase through the wall. Does that mean he's a ghost or a Dark Phantom?" Zick asked.

"No none of those I'm afraid. He's in a different class of his own. He is what we call a Wraith." Jeremy finished.

* * *

Meanwhile somewhere out in Old Mill, a small fouler was running about making a mess of things as they prefer filthy environment to a clean one. As it was rolling around in some mold, a dark figure snuck up behind it. Before the fouler knew what happened, Char snatched it up and swallowed it whole. "Ah young monsters, delicious as ever." Char said licking his lips. "But still never satisfying," he griped since he still felt the hunger inside him. The same hunger that has plague him since becoming a Wraith. A hunger that he couldn't appease no matter what he ate or how much. Leaving him forever feeling starve, but that is a problem for a later time. "No matter, my salvation will soon be at hand. But first I must awaken my brothers. For our time has come."


	2. Terror of the Wraiths

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

Somewhere in the middle of the city, Char was out and about exploring this new surroundings, marveling at the sights around him. "Who would have thought that mere humans would have advanced so much in my absence." Char said admiring the tall buildings. During his time, humans still lived in wooden huts for the most part. A few privileged ones had stone castles. To see people living in giant metal houses that extend all the way into the sky was beyond belief. And it wasn't just the skyscrapers either that caught his attention. There was also the technology all around that fascinated him; like the horseless carriages, hand held devices that seem to serve a similar purpose as a crystal ball does, and monoliths that provide food and drink at the person's request. As he continued on he couldn't help but notice that people were staring at him strangely. At the same time he found himself outside a department store where he saw his reflection in the glass overlapping with some of the clothes on display. Now that the thought about it, his clothing does seem to make him a bit conspicuous. "May perhaps a change in wardrobe in needed if I am to fit in with these natives." Char mused. Making himself intangible, he phased into a mannequin, exchanging out his old clothes for the ones that were on the mannequin. Char then walked up to a mirror to check out his new look. He was now wearing a leather pants with trench coat and wide brim hat. "Not really the style I'm accustom to but not bad," Char said admiring his new attire "In fact I kind of like it. I wonder what else this modern world has to offer?" Char said as he continued on his tour.

* * *

Meanwhile back at Emily's mansion, the Tamers and the Tutors gathered at the main room for an emergency meeting. "Alright Jeremy who's this Char person?" Zick demanded.

"And what are wraiths?" Elena added.

"Alright one thing at a time!" Jeremy hissed as he got comfortable. "First off, as you all should know, when a human dies they become one of two types of ghosts."

"Yeah Light Spirits like my grandparents," Zick interrupted.

"And Dark Phantoms, ghosts who want to come back to life by eating monsters and Tamers." Teddy finished not wanting to be shown up by Zick.

"Since having monster substance in their stomachs makes them temporarily solid, even though it also causes them to become extremely destructive." Bobby said jumping in.

"Yes," Jeremy said slightly annoyed that they interrupted him, but at this point, come to expect that sort of rude behavior from this lot. "But what most don't know is there's a third type of ghost called the Wraith, but unlike the first two, these ghosts are manifested from deceased witches."

"What, but I've never heard of witches becoming ghosts!" the older Tamers protested.

"That is because they are artificial ghosts," Jeremy said sternly. Completely shocked by this revelation, everyone gasped in silence. "It was about 1000 years ago when they first appeared. No one knew where they came from or how they came to be, but one thing was certain. They weren't natural. Somehow Char the previous Lord of the Witches found a way to transform himself and his brood into ghost like creatures. Able to shift from solid to ghost form at will and they were practically unstoppable." Jeremy paused for a bit as if remembering some traumatic moment. "I first encountered the Wraiths was a young guard. I just finished my training and assigned to protect a small village of monsters. That's when Char and his brood attacked. Just like living witches, the Tutor's and Tamer's Dom powers were ineffective against them. Not only that, none of our anti-ghost defenses would work on them either. But that is not the worst part." Jeremy shivered nervously.

"What was the worst part?" Zick gulped.

"As you all should know magic potions can only be brewed in a witch's cauldron," Jeremy started saying.

"It's true," Elena interrupted. "I tried to cook some of these magic spells using my own pots, but they never worked. Got a pretty good beef stew out of it though." Showing everyone a page in her witches book.

"Ahem may I continue?" Jeremy snarked. Elena nodded putting her book away. "The worst thing about the Wraith is that their stomachs worked like a biological cauldron. They simply need to 'eat' the ingredients and they can concoct whatever magical potion they desired." Everyone was taken back by this revelation. One of the few weaknesses that witches have is the fact that they can only carry so many potions on their person. Once they use that up, or they don't have the right spell for a specific situation, they are vulnerable. But if Wraiths' stomachs can brew whatever they need whenever they need it, that practically eliminates that weakness. However the thing that really bothered them is the ingredients itself. Since they all know that one of the key ingredients in witch's potions are monsters. "When they raided my village, I watched them devour over 100 hundred monsters in one setting. It seemed like their was no end to their appetite." Jeremy quivered.

"So how did you stop them?" Elena gulped.

"We didn't," Jeremy confessed. "Myself and my fellow guards and a few Tamers tried to repel them, but we were hopelessly outmatched. We barely managed to escape with the few monsters we were able to save." Jeremy lowered his head down in shame. "For over one month the Wraiths terrorized the monster world. I faced off against Char many times during then though I could never beat him. Then one day, as quickly as they came, they all just disappeared." Jeremy finished.

"What do you mean disappeared?" Timothy asked.

"Just that, they were just gone without a trace." Jeremy stressed.

"Did they cross over to the other side?" Elena wondered.

"Perhaps, but there were rumors that certain renegade Tamers made a deal with the Anguanes. In exchange for 1000 monsters, they would prepare a spell that would rid the world of the Wraiths." Jeremy stared accusingly at the Tamers.

"Oh not this again!" Zob groaned. For centuries now Tamers have been wrongfully exiled from the monster cities and imprisoned at Detention Oasis because a few have been poaching monsters and selling them for profit. Only recently their exile was lifted after Zick and the other Tamers helped save Bibbur-Si from Magnacat. However there are still tension between Tutors and Tamers because of their checkered history.

"Do you have proof that the Tamers did that?" Zick demanded.

"Nothing was ever proven back then," Jeremy reluctantly admitted. "However judging by the amount of magic in that crypt, that seems to support said rumor."

"That's just circumstantial evidence." Bobby making a counterpoint.

"All of that doesn't matter now, we still have to deal with this current crisis!" Timothy reminded everyone.

"Well we do have one thing that you didn't have back 1000 years ago." Zick boasted showing everyone his sunglasses.

"That's right, somehow Zick's glasses was able to amplify his Dom-beams to effect Char." Timothy recalled.

"So how about hooking up the rest of us with some of those fancy shades." Teddy suggested.

"Are you sure you want one, after what happened the last time?" Zick teased. Reminding Teddy of how he tried to steal Zick's sunglasses, only to lose control of his Dom powers upon using them.

"Hey that was a fluke, I bet I'll be much better at using them this time around." Teddy protested.

"While I'm not exactly thrilled with the idea of giving you kids with power enhancing tools, they may be our only hope." Jeremy reluctantly admitted. "By the way, where did you get those glasses? I know they're not standard issue Dom items."

"Come to think of it, I never really did find out where they came from." Timothy looking at Zick.

"Elena made them for me," Zick finally said. Causing everyone to look at her.

"Hey I only made them to cover his eyes. I didn't know that they would give him a power boost. I'm not even sure if I can make another one." Elena admitted.

"Hear that it's a love present from his girlfriend," Teddy teased.

"No wonder he doesn't want to share it with the rest of us," Bobby giggled.

"Or why she won't make one for the rest of us." Lay joining in.

"Hey he/she is not my boy/girl friend!" Both Zick and Elena said at the same time.

"If you say so," the young Tamers mocked.

"Enough of this nonsense. I will escort Elena back to Bibbur-Si. Perhaps she can work with our R/D department to try and recreate the glasses; and I need to report this to the other Maximum Tutors. In the meantime Stellar Tutor Timothy, take charge of the investigation team and search this witch's hole from top to bottom. Try to find any information that may help us deal with the Wraiths." Jeremy instructed.

"What about us?" the Tamers asked.

"Need I tell you? Go find Char. Stop him if you can, but at the very least, keep him from eating all the monsters!" Jeremy stressed. With that everyone scrambled to do their assignments.

* * *

Meanwhile Char was now somewhere in Old Mill. While not as grand as the big city, it still had it's charms. One thing in particular interest were the old abandoned buildings festering with Dark Phantoms. "If I am to succeed in my endeavors, I will need allies." Char decided. "Or at the very least minions." Walking into the abandoned building he saw that there were far more Phantoms inside that he originally thought.

"I'm hungry," the Dark Phantoms complained as they hovered about. With the Tamers and Tutors working together to protect monster kind, it's been getting harder and harder for Dark Phantoms to hunt down monsters.

"Perhaps I can be of some service," Char said hovering into the room.

"Who are you?" one of the Dark Phantoms demanded as the others gathered in a defensive position.

"What are you?" another asked.

"You appear to be a ghost but you're not a Dark Phantom," a third said.

"And since you're not blinding us with that accursed holy light, you're not a Light Spirit neither." another noted.

"Correct, I am neither a Dark Phantom nor a Light Spirit. I am what is called a Wraith. My name is Char and I have a proposition for you." Char offered.

"What sort of proposition?" the first Dark Phantom asked. Clearly he was the leader of this bunch.

"I need some help with a family reunion party I'm planning." Char smiled as he pulled out a small can. "Consider this a down payment and a token of my good faith." Char threw the can at the Dark Phantoms. As the can hit the floor, the lid fell off and a monster, a Snyakutze, came bursting out. Terrified the Snyakutze body started to fall apart with each piece fleeing in a different direction, but the Dark Phantoms quickly started chasing down and encasing the poor monster's parts in a webbing cocoon. With the exception of one eyeball that managed to roll away. After securing their prey, the leader turned to Char.

"Thanks for getting us our dinner, but just because you brought us one monster that doesn't mean we'll work for you. You'll have to bring us ten before we commit to anything." the Dark Phantom mocked.

"Done," Char said as he vomited up ten different monsters that he previously ate. All of whom were still alive. "This I believe will cover it." Char mocked.

"What are you?" the Dark Phantom leader asked fearfully.

"You're new master," Char said with a deep imposing voice. Grabbing the Dark Phantom leader by the throat. "Serve me well and you will be greatly rewarded. Fail." Char warned as he opened his mouth wide and then proceeded to eat the Dark Phantom leader. The Dark Phantoms all cried in terror at what they were witnessing. They're used to being the predator not the prey, so seeing one of their own being devoured is very disturbing. After swallowing the last bit, Char turned his attention to the remaining Phantoms. "Well?" Char awaiting their answer.

The Phantoms all glanced at each other unsure if they should stay or flee. True this Char ghost just ate their leader and would probably eat them as well, but he also provided them with eleven monsters. That is more than they've ever been able to catch in the last decade. As ghosts they don't really need to eat for sustenance, they just do it to come back to life. "So what do you want us to do boss?" the Phantoms asked. Their greed for more monsters superseded their fear of Char.

Char smiled. "I need you to find something for me. Coffins, with these markers on them." Char conjured up the same symbols that were on his coffin.


	3. Showdown in Old Mills

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

"Holy spit," Elena said in awe. It never ceases to amaze her to see the Suspended City of Bibbur-Si just hanging over the city of Big Burg. Held up by a series of ropes and bridges, supported by Big Burg's tall buildings. It is without a doubt, truly an engineering marvel. Now there are only three ways to enter the Suspended City. One is to fly there, the other is to climb up the sides of the buildings, the final (and most common method) is to use the Monster Elevators conveniently located at some of Big Burg's most busiest intersections. While either method wouldn't be much of a problem for invisible monsters, it does present some difficulty for a totally visible girl and cat. "Come on girl we are in a hurry," Jeremy instructed as he directed her to get on the elevator.

"You know don't you find it weird that no one has reported seeing flying humans every time one of us uses the elevators. Not even in the tabloids." Elena commented. Even though she's made the trip several times, it still worries her that someone would notice and blow the whole secret about monster to the world.

"That may have been a problem in the old days, but now humans are so fixated on their cell phones that nobody ever bothers to look up anymore." Jeremy laughed. As the elevator lifted Elena off the ground, she could see that no one was paying her any attention because, just as Jeremy said, they had their eyes glued to their phones. Completely unobservant with what was happening right in front of them. Once they reached the Suspended City, Jeremy directed Elena to Mr. Uzka, the architect who designed the city, who was more than happy to work with Elena on reconstructing the sunglasses. While they worked, Jeremy proceeded to the main council hall to inform the other Maximum Tutors of what has transpired.

* * *

Meanwhile Zick, Teddy, and Bobby were walking down the streets of Old Mill Village, looking for some sign of Char. Following up on rumors about a new ghost gobbling up monsters left and right lead them to this area of town. "This is hopeless, we've been searching for hours now and we haven't seen a trace of Char." Teddy complained.

"What did you expect to find? Foot prints? Bread crumbs? A sign saying Char is here? The guy's a ghost, or at least half of one. You can't expect a trail leading up to him." Bobby reasoned.

"Still there must be something," Zick groaned in frustration. When suddenly he sense something, and it wasn't just him. Bobby and Teddy sensed it as well.

"What was that?" Bobby wondered.

"Someone is calling for help," Zick recognizing this sensation. Looking around he picked up a round object from the ground.

"What are you saying that marble is asking for help?" Teddy ridiculed.

"It's not a marble, it's an eyeball." Zick corrected him.

"So there's Snyakutze somewhere around here losing body parts. Nothing unusual about that." Teddy commented. Bobby nodded in agreement.

"Yeah except that this one was calling for help," Zick reminded them.

 ***SIGHT DOM*** Normally the power of sight is used to give Tamers and Keepers the ability to see the invisible world; but for more advanced Tamers, it can also be used to give premonitions or see things through the eyes of another monster. Using the eyeball as a focus, Zick started to see what the other eyes of the Snyakutze were seeing. "Alright, I see a dark room, with other monsters. In cocoons." Zick informed his companions.

"That means he got caught by the Dark Phantoms," Bobby figured.

"Great we don't have time for this," Teddy complained. They already have to deal with a ghost witch, they didn't need additional problems with Dark Phantoms as well.

"Wait there's something else," Zick trying to focus in on the monster's surroundings. "It's Char! He's making some kind of deal with the Dark Phantoms!"

"Quick do you know where they are?" Teddy asked.

"Uh," Zick looking around to get his bearings. "There!" he pointed to an abandoned building that closely resembled the one he was seeing through the eye. In order to keep the element of surprise, the three young Tamers put on their teleskates and warped right into the building.

"TAMERS!" the Dark Phantoms cried. "WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?" another said. "Never mind that, I hear that Tamers are a lot tastier than monster." a third commented. Soon all the Dark Phantoms were drooling at the prospect of eating three Tamers.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** All three Tamers started blasting their energy beams at the Phantoms. Luckily they were all level 4 Tamers so now their blue energy can dissolve ghosts. Still the Dark Phantoms won't give up without a fight. They all started flying around the room trying to dodge the Dom energy beams, while shooting their own red webbing at the Tamers hoping to restrain them. The Tamers in turn started using their teleskates to teleport all around the room in order to outflank the ghosts.

"What is going on here?" Char roared as he entered the scene.

"Teddy, Bobby, you free the all the monsters. I'll take on Char." Zick ordered as he put on his glasses.

"Right!" the two boys acknowledged. Teddy immediately started to use his Dom energy to cut the monsters out of their cocoons with Bobby covering him. Zick could feel his Dom energy surging within him thanks to his glasses. Upon building up large ball of energy, Zick shot it straight at Char. Char stood his ground, raising his arms in a defensive position, taking the full force of the blast, which knocked him back to the wall.

"I knew it. I was right. Never before have I felt such power. You really are quite the surprise young Tamer. It would seem that fate has brought us together." Char laughed.

"Yeah, because it's my destiny to kick your ghostly butt!" Zick yelled firing more Dom beams at Char. Char counters by shooting mystical bolt at Zick as well.

"Hey Boss their stealing our food!" one of the Phantoms reported. Char looked over to Teddy and Bobby and saw that they had freed almost half of the monsters.

"Save what you can. This place is lost." Char ordered. The Dark Phantoms manage to hang on to three of the cocooned monsters before Char regurgitated some kind of pink powder on to his hand. "This isn't over Tamers!" Char ranted as he threw the powder creating a pink fog around himself, the remaining Dark Phantoms, and whatever monsters they still had, teleporting them away.

"Hey where'd they go?" Teddy wondered.

"Somewhere far from here," Zick said ominously.

* * *

Miles away at an old cemetery, Char and his minions appeared inside the funeral home. "Not quite up to my standards but it will do." Char commented as he explored his new surroundings.

"Hey I know this place, it's where we celebrated my best friend's funeral." one of the Dark Phantoms said.

"It's also where you got your funeral," another joked.

"Enough," Char said calmly silencing them all. "With the Tamers on our tail we need to move up our time table. Any progress on my little errand I sent you on?"

"Oh right, that's what I was going to tell you. We found one of those coffins you wanted. The with one of those symbols you asked for." one of the Phantoms reported.

"Where? And how soon can you get it here?" Char demanded.

"About that," the Dark Phantom hesitantly handed Char a pamphlet showcasing some of the museum's newest acquisitions. One of which was a coffin excavated from some old tomb with the exact same marking on Char's coffin.

"Why haven't you brought it to me?" Char asked rather impatiently.

"But Boss, if we stole it, it could alert the Tamers." the Dark Phantom reasoned.

Char considered this and the Dark Phantom had a good point. While he didn't fear the Tamers, he couldn't risk them ruining his plans like they did all those centuries ago. It would seem that he would have to waste what precious little magic he had, but if his plans succeed then it might be worth it. "Give me one of those monsters," Char ordered.

"But Boss you said that these were ours," the Dark Phantoms argued.

"Don't worry, you'll get your fill and more soon enough," Char promised grabbing one of the monster and ate it whole. He then took out a small packet lunch and ate the carrot sticks and broccoli. Afterwards he took a nearby flower vase, discarding the flowers, and regurgitated a cyan colored liquid in to the vase. "Here take this and spread it over the coffin. It will create a duplicate so that no one will know you've stolen it." Char instructed. A pair of Dark Phantoms took the potion and flew off.

"Hey Boss I think I found another one." a Dark Phantom said excitedly.

"Where?" Char demanded.

"Oh man you're going to laugh at this, it's right here in this very cemetery." the Phantom laughed pointing out the window showing a nearby tomb with the same architectural design as the one Char was in. Decorated with the markings on his coffin.

"To find two of my brothers in less than a day. It would seem that fate truly is on my side." Char laughed.

* * *

Back at the abandoned building. The young Tamers were just finishing up freeing the other monsters. "Oh thank you. Thank you." The only Snyakutze thanked.

"It's out pleasure. In fact we never would have been able to find you without your help." Zick said handing the monster his missing eye.

"My favorite eye! Oh thank goodness. I thought those Dark Phantoms ate it." the Snyakutze cheered putting the eye back in its place.

"I think it's best if you monsters quickly get out of here," Zick advised.

"Yeah who knows when those Dark Phantoms will come back," Teddy warned. Heeding his advice, the monsters all scattered as fast as they could.

"So now what? We're back to square one." Bobby groaned.

"It's getting late. I think we should go home and start fresh in the tomorrow." Teddy suggested after checking his watch. The other two nodded in agreement, but as they were about to leave, two monsters came running at them as fast as they could. One was a large orange monster with a big mouth, the second was a baby version still in diapers.

"Zick, Bombo is so glad to have found you," Bombo huffed.

"Bombo what are you doing here? This place is infested with Dark Phantoms." Zick scolded.

"That not important, Bombo have terrible news. Something horrible happened!" Bombo said in a state of panic.

"What is it Bombo? Did Timothy put you on a diet again?" Zick joked.

"Yes, but that not it. Much worse!" Bombo shaking his head. At this point Zick gave Bombo his full attention. Whatever the news is, it must be serious if Bombo says it's worst than him going on a diet. "Bombo was up at the Suspended City with Bombolo when Bombo saw it. The Tutors arresting Elena!" Bombo cried. The baby Bombolo crying as well.

"What? Why?" Zick asked.

"Don't know, something about her causing the biggest trouble in history of Bibbur-Si." Bombo summarized.

"Oh no, what has she done now?" Zick groaned, activating his teleskates so he could warp to Bibbur-Si. Unfortunately he drained the power of the skates during the battle so now they won't work. The same with Teddy and Bobby's skates. Since they can't teleport, the three of them ran as fast as they could to the Suspended City. With Bombo and Bombolo following right behind them.


	4. Trial of Elena Potato

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

Up in the Suspended city of Bibbur-Si, Elena was working with Mr. Uzka on recreating the special sunglasses she made for Zick. "Well I heard some kids at school saying how Zick has this ghoulish stare, and when I saw that his eyes glowed whenever he uses his Tamer powers I knew that was the cause. So I made these special double layered sunglasses to cover his eyes. I had no idea it would give him a power boost." Elena explained.

"I see, and what exactly did you to make those glasses?" Uzka asked.

"Well first I tried putting several dark lenses together but that just made it too hard to see. So I used the mirror lenses instead. That way the light from his eyes would be reflected, dimming it somewhat without compromising his vision." Elena explained.

"I think I see what's going one here then," Uzka pondered. "Elena do you know why Tamer's eyes glow whenever they are using their powers?"

"Not really, I just thought it was an involuntary reaction. Kind of like how Zick sneezes whenever his allergies start up." Elena shrugged.

"Well my dear, you are partially corrected." Uzka mused. "It's actually more of a, how should I put it, an exhaust port."

"You mean like in a car?" Elena said skeptically.

"Not quite," Uzka shaking his head. "As a Tamer starts building up power, the excess amount start venting out of his body, kind of like how humans sweat when you get too hot. Normally this power will just dissipate upon leaving the body, but your glasses is catching this energy and reflecting it back at the eyes, causing an incredible buildup of Dom Energy." Uzka figured.

"Holy spit, that sounds dangerous." Elena gulped.

"Oh it is," Uzka agreed. "If Zick wasn't able to control the buildup, his head might have exploded."

"That might explain why Teddy lost control of his powers when he tried to use the glasses." Elena sighed. "Maybe we can find a way to make the glasses safer to use?"

"I do have a few theories, but without a Tamer to test them on, it will be a bit of a challenge." Uzka admitted.

"Well I like a challenge," Elena said enthusiastically. The two worked diligently testing different lens combinations but so far no success. The energy just got reflected back to the power source, causing it to overload. "I don't get it. What are we doing wrong? Even Zick's glasses never messed up this badly, and I made those on accident." Elena wondered.

"There must be something we're missing," Uzka groaned as he examined the glasses. "Are you sure there isn't anything else you did?"

"Nothing off hand. I mean this is everything I did. Mirror lenses, double layer for extra protections; but it does seem a bit different." Elena noted taking a closer look at the glasses.

"Different how?" Uzka asked. Before Elena had a chance to answer; the Tutor Guard along with Jeremy in his true monster form came bursting into the lab.

"Elena Potato," the guardsman spoke.

"Yes," Elena answered.

"I'm sorry Elena I didn't mean for this to happen," Jeremy apologized looking ashamed at himself.

"What? What's going on?" Elena demanded.

"Elena Potato, by order of the council of Maximum Tutors, you are here by under arrest for your part in the release Char the Wraith." the Guardsman announced.

"Holy spit, you've got to be kidding me!" Elena protested.

"Elena please, it's a decision of the council." Jeremy pleaded, knowing Elena's temper.

"Fine," Elena conceded. As the guards were escorting her out; Bombo and Bombolo were nearby, witnessing everything and dropping their jaws in shock.

* * *

Over at the funeral home, Char grinned with anticipation as the Dark Phantoms brought in two coffins. "You have done well," Char praised as he gestured the Phantoms to move away. After the Phantoms complied, Char raised his hands and shot two bolts of energy at the coffins, destroying the seals. Soon the coffins opened up, releasing the same fog that Char's did when his opened, and two figures slowly rose up. "Welcome my brothers, welcome." Char greeted.

"Who are you calling brother? Do I look like a boy to you?" this feminine voice protested.

"Well you do look a bit on the masculine side," the second figure laughed.

"Vex, Drak, it's good to see you two again." Char said.

"Yes, it gives me a chance to do this!" the female identified as Vex punched Char in the face, knocking him down.

"And yet you wonder why no one thinks of you as a girl sister," Char ridiculed.

"You're just lucky I only punched you. If I had the magic to spare I'd turn you into a pit of sludge." Vex threatened.

"She's got a point Char. Why did you release us? Are you trying to destroy us?" Drak demanded.

"Just the opposite but first," Char waved his hand and the two remaining cocooned monsters floated towards them. "Eat up. You're going to need your powers." Char instructed.

"But Boss, you said those were ours!" the Dark Phantoms protested.

"You'll be getting more I assure you," Char promised. Not really understanding, the Dark Phantoms started to quiet down as Vex and Drak devoured the monsters.

"Hm, monsters have certainly grown a lot more tastier in the last 1000 years," Vex complimented.

"Yes, but if only they were more satisfying," Drak sighed patting his stomach.

"Now that you are ready I have a task for you. I want you to lead the Dark Phantoms in a raid of the Monster city." Char ordered.

"What? Are you insane? The Suspended City is protected by Anti-Ghost defenses! We'll be destroyed." the Dark Phantoms cried.

"Which is why my brother and sister will be accompanying you." Char said calmly.

"And why should we be doing this?" Vex asked with Drak nodding in agreement.

"Because I have another task you for." Char threw down some magic dust on to the ground and an image of Zick appeared. "I need you to engage this young Tamer. My spell shows that he is right now on his way to the monster city."

"What's so special about this Tamer?" Drak asked.

"I'm not sure yet, but I do know that this boy has a special power. One that will aid us greatly." Char said with confidence. While Vex and Drak were hesitant, the one thing they did know is that Char is usually right. So if he says this boy is important, then the boy is important.

"Very well we'll do this little task for you." Vex agreed.

"But if this is a trick," Drak warned.

"No trick, in fact I think you'll rather be pleased with the results." Char promised them. With that, Vex and Drak ordered the Dark Phantoms to lead them to the Suspended City.

* * *

Back at Bibbur-Si, Zick finally arrived at the council of Maximum Tutors. Where he found Elena sitting in front of the tribunal. The last time he and Elena were here was for Bombo's trial. As Zick and the other Tamers took their seats. Timothy came rushing in. "I got here as soon as I heard," Timothy whispered. "What's going on?"

"Not sure, but if what Jeremy told me is true, the Maximum Tutors are trying to blame Elena for Char's return." Zick informed him.

"Figures they'd do this. Obviously they want to use her as a scapegoat." Timothy said critically.

"But that's not fair!" Zick protested.

"Fair or not, this is a trial. We can only hope that we can get the charges dropped." Timothy sighed. There are times when he really hates the politics.

"Elena Potato, Monster Keeper in training. You stand accused of releasing one of our most dangerous enemies back into the world. How do you plead?" the Maximum Tutors asked.

"It wasn't my fault! How was I suppose to know that there was a wraith there? I didn't even know what a wraith was until now." Elena argued.

"Even so you were instructed by Jeremy-Joth not to touch anything suspicious and yet you and Tamer Lay entered a suspicious crypt and broke the seal without informing the others, ignoring proper protocol." The Maximum Tutors reading from Jeremy's report.

"Well that's not exactly how it happened." Elena objected. The entire council waited for her to give her testimony. "Okay so that's sort of what happened." Elena reluctantly admitted.

"So you admit to this crime," the Tutors accused.

"I always expected something like this from her, she's not even from a dynasty." another murmured.

"Ahem, may I approach the council?" Timothy requested.

"The council recognizes Stellar Tutor Timothy-Moth." Jeremy announced breathing a sigh of relief. As much as he would like to help Elena's case, as a Maximum Tutor regulation stipulate that he must be impartial and therefore can't support her. However if anyone can help the young Keeper in training, it would be Timothy due to their history.

"Fellow Tutors, is this really the time for this foolishness? Yes Elena may have been responsible for freeing Char, and has a history of causing problems due to her annoying habit of always wanting to poke her nose into everything not concerning her." Timothy started off saying.

"I think I need a new lawyer," Elena said cynically.

"But let us not forget all the times she helped save monster kind against foes like Magnacat." Timothy using his powers to show images from his memory of Elena fighting monsters and even saving Zick from several tight spots. "And these were from before she was given the gift of sight. She's also been very helpful against Moog Magister and the Anguane." Timothy showing more images of Elena's involvement against their foes.

"Compelling evidence, Tutor Timothy." the council agreed. Everyone started to perk up, hoping that they would drop these ridiculous charges. "However her past deeds does not excuse her for her latest offense!" the council countered. "Now we shall deliberate for her sentencing." The Maximum Tutors all got into a meditative trance.

"What are they doing?" Elena asked.

"As you know we Tutors are telepathic with each other. So there are simply having a meeting of the minds so to speak. It's actually a lot more efficient than jury duty." Timothy joked.

"We have reached a verdict," the Maximum Tutors announced. But before they could pass their sentence, the alarms went off! "What is going on?" the council demanded.

"Dark Phantoms! Dark Phantoms are attacking!" the monsters screaming in panic.

"Raise the shields!" the Tutors sending the order telepathically. The Guards on duty at the controls immediately activated the shield upon receiving the command. Soon the entire city of Bibbur-Si was protected by the anti-ghost shield.

* * *

Outside the shield the Dark Phantoms along with the two Wraiths Vex and Drak hovered just out of range. "I knew this was a waste of time. Any ghost caught in that shield will instantly dissolve." one of the Dark Phantoms said shaking his head.

"Really? Shall we test that theory." Drak mused as he and Vex flew towards the shield. To the Dark Phantom's surprise, the two Wraiths harmlessly passed through the shield like it wasn't even there. "1000 years, 1000 years and yet they are still using the same anti-ghost measures." Drake laughed.

"You'd think they'd take a hint from these humans and try something new." Vex ridiculed. Even though this ghost shield is powered by technology, it has the same basic principles as a magical one. Like for instance, it is generated at the central location. Gently floating to the control room, the Guards tried to fight them off but their attacks prove futile as the Wraiths didn't even bother to retaliate and continued on to their destination. Upon reaching the control room, Vex threw a fireball at the controls causing the room to explode. With the shield gone, the Dark Phantoms began swooping in to capture as many monsters as they could. With the shield down, the Tamers and Tutors responded quickly to see if they could salvage this dire situation.

"How did the Dark Phantoms bring the shield down?" one of the Tutors asked.

"Hey is that Char over there?" Teddy pointing to one of the Wraiths.

"No that someone else!" Zick realized.

"And he's not alone!" Bobby pointing to Vex.

"Well what do we have here? A trio of Tamer cubs." Drak laughed as he approached the young Tamers.

"So which one of you is the one that Char told us to look out for?" Vex wondered.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** A pair of Dom beam shot out at the two Wraiths knocking them back. "That would be me!" Zick declared wearing his glasses.

"Did you feel that?" Drak asked Vex.

"Indeed, Char was right. This boy..." Vex couldn't finish that sentence since Zick blasted them again.

* * *

Inside the council room, Elena watched as her friends valiantly tried to fight off the ghostly invaders. While the Tamers and the Tutors can easily handle the Dark Phantoms, the Wraiths were another story. Even with Zick's enhanced Dom blasts he could barely hold back a single Wraith, but now there are two of them. While Zick was attacking one, the other would assault the other Tamers and Tutors preventing them from forming a defense against the ghosts. So now the Dark Phantoms stood mainly unopposed as they gathered up more and more monsters. It was during this battle that Elena saw the glasses she made for Zick in action. This causes her memory to start jogging and recall how she made them. Making sure that the coast is clear, Elena hurried all the way back to Uzka's lab only to find it empty. "Mr. Uzka are you still here?" Elena called out.

"Elena, what are you doing here? We are in an emergency situation!" Uzka cried from his hiding spot.

"Look I think I know how to perfect the glasses," Elena said as she ran up to the unfinished glasses.

"What do you mean?" Uzka asked with great interest abandoning his hiding spot. His scientific curiosity just superseded his fear of the Dark Phantoms.

"Here, we set up the lenses so that the tinted ones were placed after the mirror ones. But when I made Zick's, I had them here behind them." Elena explained putting the tinted lenses behind the mirrored ones so that it would be closest to the face. Crossing her fingers, Elena placed the glasses in the tester and sent a small dose of Dom energy through. Like before the energy got reflected back, but unlike before instead of returning back to the source the energy stayed within the glasses. Reflecting back and forth between the lenses.

"Of course now I get it," Uzka said excitedly. "These glasses act more like a capacitor."

"What's a capacitor?" Elena asked.

"It kind of a fancy way of saying rechargeable battery," Uzka trying to simplify it. "You see I thought that the energy was reflected back into the Zick's eyes, but instead it was actually being collected and stored in the glasses until Zick uses it to enhance his Dom blasts."

"I guess that's why no one's head have exploded yet," Elena said thankfully as she grabbed the glasses.

"Um where are you taking those?" Uzka asked.

"To one of the Tamers, their going to need all the fire power they can get!" Elena said as she ran out of the lab.

"Oh okay then," Uzka almost forgetting that they were under siege, immediately crawled back into his hiding place.

* * *

Back at the battle, the situation is just as bad as Elena left it. The Tamers and Tutors have fallen into disarray, allowing the Dark Phantoms to cocoon more monsters. Zick was facing off against the Wraiths, and it looked like he was doing a good job keeping them at bay. Looking for the nearest Tamer, Elena ran up to Bobby who had just blasted a Dark Phantom and was starting to blast free the monster it was cocooning. "Bobby here try these!" Elena said handing him the glasses.

"You finished them?" Bobby said with glee.

"Hopefully they won't make your head explode," Elena muttered.

"Say what now?" Bobby hoping that he misheard that.

"Never mind, you got to help Zick!" Elena reminded him.

"Oh right." Bobby put on the glasses and began charging his Dom energy. As with the testing the energy started collecting in the glasses. As Bobby touched the lenses with his hand, the energy transferred from the glasses into his hand. Bobby tried to aim as best he could, but he wasn't used to having that much power that the recoil sent him flying back and his shot went wild and crazy! Completely missing the Wraiths, but it did hit a couple of Dark Phantoms, dissolving them instantly.

"What the?" Vex and Drak looking over at Bobby and Elena. "Another one with glasses?"

Bobby charged up his glasses again, only this time instead of putting all that power into one hand, he placed both hands on the glasses trying to split the difference. Trying to aim a bit more carefully this time, Bobby fired a duel beam at the Wraiths. Strangely the Wraiths didn't move to avoid it. They just stood still as the beams hit them knocking them back a bit, and they weren't the only ones. The recoil from the blast again threw Bobby back as well. He landed on one of the bridges so hard that the glasses fell off his face and fell to the streets below, where it got ran over by a passing car. "Aw man I just got those," Bobby griped seeing his glasses shattered on the ground below.

"And I just made those," Elena equally annoyed.

Over at the funeral home, Char watched the battle via telepathic link with his kin. "That girl made those glasses?" Char repeated to himself. "Vex, Drak, fall back." Char ordered.

"But why?" Vex asked.

"We still need to capture the boy," Drak reported.

"Forget the boy, retreat!" Char said in his commanding voice.

"Dark Phantoms fall back!" Vex relaying Char's orders.

"But," The Dark Phantoms confused by this.

"Just grab what you can. We're leaving!" Drak warned. Knowing that they would be no match for the Tamers and Tutors on their own, the Dark Phantoms started carrying off some of the monsters they had cocooned.

"They are retreating, we've done it!" the monsters cheered. But for few, it was a bitter sweet victory.

"You see all this happened because Elena freed Char!" one of the Maximum Tutors accused pointing at Elena.

"Yes I say we revoke her status as a Keeper and take away her power of sight!" another said.

"I think that would be premature," Jeremy interjected.

"What are you saying?" the others demanded.

"That rather than blaming the girl for an accident, we should focus on the fact that her glasses have proven to be an effective weapon against them. It would be a waste to lose her now when we need all the help we can get." Jeremy argued.

"What you say may be true, but we can't just let her offense go." the other Tutors said.

"Then how about we just..." the Tutors all got into their meditative trance again. After a few seconds, they came out of their trance and nodded, Jeremy reluctantly so.

"What just happened?" Elena wondered.

"I'm sorry, but this was the best I could do for you." Jeremy apologized to Elena.

"Monster Keeper in training Elena Potato; for your part in releasing the Wraiths and bringing this catastrophe to the Suspended City, your status as Monster Keeper is hereby suspended. Pending that you resolve this crisis and rid us of the Wraiths." the Tutors declared.

"What does that mean?" Elena asked.

"It means that until you find a way to defeat the Char and the other Wraiths, you will no longer be a Monster Keeper." Jeremy informed her.

"But what about Bombolo?" Elena cried.

"I was able to convince them to transfer him to the Barrymore house," Jeremy said apologetically. Elena broke down crying, even though the Barrymore house is just next door, it still hurt to think that she was losing her monster.

* * *

Over at the funeral home, the Wraiths and the Dark Phantoms returned with their prize, 23 cocooned monsters. Char stood outside to greet his minions. "Bet cha he and his brothers are just going to eat them all again," the Dark Phantoms murmured to themselves.

"You all did an excellent job," Char praised. "Did I not promise you that you will all get your fill of monsters? So go and feast, you've earned it." The Dark Phantoms feeling a bit confused of his change of attitude, but hey they weren't going to give up their chance to eat monsters. As the Dark Phantoms celebrated, Vex and Drak followed Char inside the funeral home. "Well what of the boy's power?" Char asked.

"It's just as you describe. He will indeed be very useful to our cause." Vex grinned.

"Yes, but why did you order us to retreat? Why not capture him now?" Drak asked.

"My dear brother and sister. Why steal a jar of honey when you can have the entire hive?" Char chuckled. Vex and Drak looked at each other feeling a bit confused about the analogy. "I have some things I need to look into. Take charge of the Phantoms, continue looking our other brothers and sister, as well as capturing more monsters. For we will need as many as we can to make more potions."

"If the Dark Phantoms don't eat them all," Drak joked.

"Yes why do you put up with them?" Vex asked, she hates working with beings she feels are beneath her.

"They may be vulgar but they have their uses. Just keep things running smoothly, I will return shortly." Char instructed as he phased through the wall.

* * *

Over at Zick's house, Elena and Bombolo were having a tearful goodbye and she handed Bombolo and the former Dark Tamer Sinistro turned monster to Greta. "You know you can visit him at any time," Greta said hoping to ease the pain.

"Yeah you come here so often you practically live here." Zick joked. Earning him a warning glare from his mother.

"I know," Elena said softly. "Well I better get to work. If I'm to regain my keeper status, I'm going to need to find a way to defeat those Wraiths." Elena said leaving the house. As the front door closed, Bombolo started crying at the lost of his surrogate mother. Outside Elena leaned on the door. Hearing Bombolo's crying was tearing out her heart; but there was nothing that she could do at the moment. Even though she disagreed with the ruling, even she wouldn't defy the Council of Maximum Tutors. Running home as fast as she could, which didn't take that long since she lived right next door, Elena rushed to her bedroom and pulled out her book on witches. If she was to get Bombolo back, she needed to deal with the Wraiths, and it seems the best way to deals with the Wraiths is to study up of witches.

Elena studied the witch's book well into to the night, before falling asleep at her desk. Waiting just outside window for this moment, Char phased into her room. Quietly going through her notes, he couldn't help but admire Elena's work. While most of her data was a bit inaccurate, due to her confusing folklore with facts, still it showed her potential. Potential that Char is planning to exploit. Pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket, he opened the witch's book to a random page and seamlessly added it in. Satisfied that the seeds of his plan have been successfully planted. All he needed to do now is wait until they blossom.


	5. Stalking Shadows

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

It was just before dawn at the Zick residence, when two mysterious figures were sneaking around in the shadows. Carefully and quietly making their way to Zick's room. Slowly cracking the door open, the pair peeked around, scanning for their target. After spotting their prey, they tiptoed in, licking their lips. Finally after hours of waiting, their prize was finally theirs. Opening their oversized mouths, they began to feast. That's when the alarm went off.

"MY SHOES!" Zick screamed seeing Bombo with Bombolo eating his shoes again. "Bombo, now I'm going to be late!" Zick scolded as he dug into the monster's mouth searching for his precious footwear. After pulling out one, he looked for the pair. "Okay Bombo where's my other shoe?" Zick demanded.

"Bombo no have it," Bombo insisted. Naturally Zick didn't believe him and continued to search inside Bombo's mouth. Failing to notice the laces sticking out of Bombolo's tiny mouth.

"Zick are you up? I think I might have found something." they all heard Elena's voice coming from outside as she knocked on the door. Ecstatic to hear his Keeper's voice again, Bombolo coughed up Zick's other shoe and ran to the front door.

"You see Bombo told you Bombo don't have it," Bombo said innocently. Zick simply scowled at him as he tried to clean the slobber off of his shoes.

Bombolo eagerly ran up to Elena, jumping into her arms. "I missed you to Bombolo," Elena smiled giving the little monster a hug.

"Ugh, it's bad enough I have one monster eating my shoes, now I have two." Zick gagged as tried to walk down the stairs in soggy shoes.

"Then you better hurry and help me deal with the Wraiths so that I can get my Keeper's license back." Elena retorted.

"You said you found something?" Zick asked.

"Right," Elena pulled out his witch's book and turned to the page that Char added. "I was looking through my witch's book all last night trying to find something that can help us."

"Did you?" Zick asked.

"Well this morning when I got up I found this," Elena showing him a page with strange writing and even stranger pictures. "I think that the pages must have gotten stuck together because I don't recall ever seeing this before, and I flipped through this book three times last night, but I think it might be a big clue to help us." Elena explained.

"How so?" Zick asked looking at the page. While he couldn't read most of the symbols, he did recognize some of the images there. "Wait, are those Dark Phantoms?" Pointing to the ghostly pictures.

"Right," Elena confirmed. "From what I was able to translate, this seems to be a study of how Dark Phantoms become alive after eating monsters."

"Fascinating, but how does that help us out?" Zick asked.

"Don't you get it?" Elena sighed. "Remember what Jeremy said about the Wraiths being artificial ghosts. This right here proves that the witches were experimenting on them."

"And quite possibly a clue to how they became Wraiths in the first place; and maybe how to deal with them." Zick finished.

"Now you're getting it," Elena smirked.

"Well you two can figure all that out later, right now you have to get ready to go to school." Greta reminded them. The two had a quick breakfast and hurried to school. All the while not noticing a ghostly image keeping a close eye on them.

* * *

School went on rather uneventful as always, with the exception of occasional bullying from their classmates. After the final bell, Zick was about to head to his Monster class, but Elena had other plans. Due to her suspension, Elena saw no reason to go to Monster class and wanted to continue researching that page she found. Naturally Zick wanted to accompany her but she reminded him of what will happen if he misses class, and Zick definitely did not want to go through another one of Jeremy's lectures about rules and responsibilities. So Zick reluctantly agreed to let her go alone.

Elena hurried to the library and started looking through books on witches and ancient languages. She wasn't the only one doing research. Char carefully observed Elena from a safe distance, reading a few books himself. He had to admit, humans had some rather amusing notions about witches. Still while he would like to catch up on 1000 years of reading, he still had a job to do. Char patiently waited until Elena got up to collect more books, after she was a good distance away from her desk, Char moved in to check up on her progress. As he expected Elena was way off due to the fact that she was using the wrong references. Using his magic, he pulled a book titled 'Ancient runes of the Wicca' from the shelf and guided it to drop on her head. In addition, he also made sure that the book opened up to the right page.

"Holy spit, what was that?" Elena groaned rubbing her head. Looking the book that hit her on her noggin, she saw several pentagrams that were in her witch's book and their meanings. "What coincidence, I guess this is what some might call luck or fate." Elena whispered excited as she got back to work.

"Yes my dear, this is all fate." Char mused as he continued to watch the girl work. As the day went on, Char continued to drop the necessary books onto Elena's lap while at the same time making sure to open certain books to the correct pages.

Later the buzzing on her cell phone told her that it was almost dinner and that she needed to get home. Quickly putting the books away, but making a mental note to where they are so that she can find them again, Elena then hurried home. On her way home she ran into Zick who looked like he just came from a fierce battle. "Holy spit Zick, what happened to you?" Elena asked.

"We were trying to brainstorm new ideas of trying to fight the Wraiths. Teddy suggested that we use the Densifier to become ghost like so we can fight them on equal terms." Zick sighed.

"So how did that go?" Elena asked, even though she had a pretty good idea.

"It didn't help," Zick confirmed. "Being intangible didn't give us the ability to fight them nor did it offer any protection from their anti-ghost magic, which Vex and Drak blasted us with!" Zick ranted. "So how did your day go?"

"Actually it was rather productive," Elena said with a smile. Pulling out her notes, she showed him everything she learned. "You see according to these runes, I think this was an energy transference experiment."

"They were trying to steal energy from ghosts? Why?" Zick wondered.

"Not quite," Elena shaking her head. "I think they were trying to use the ghosts essence as a catalyst for some potion." Elena theorized.

"Hold up, if they were trying to transfer the ghost's essence, then do you think they might have accidentally transferred it to themselves?" Zick suggested. "After all even Jeremy said their were artificial and it would explain why more witches haven't turned themselves into Wraiths."

"I never considered that," Elena admitted. "If that is the case then maybe we can use that."

"How so?" Zick asked.

Elena rolling her eyes. "Don't you get it, if they became Wraiths by absorbing the ghosts essence, then maybe we can use the same method to change them back!" Elena explained.

"Yeah, but wait, what will happen when we remove the ghosts' parts from them?" Zick wondered.

"Most likely they will just turn back into ordinary witches, and those we can handle." Elena said confidently. This time it was Zick's turn to roll his eyes, wondering if he should remind her of all the trouble his aunt and the Anguanes gave them in the past.

* * *

For the next couple of days Char continued to secretly aid Elena with her research, while occasionally engaging in battles with Zick and the other Tamers. Most of whom now have glasses similar to Zick's, but none seems to have the control that he did. About a week later, Char hovered over Elena's house watch the interactions between Zick and Elena as they compared notes. "Fascinating, it seems as if those two are a perfect pair." Char smiled. Using several spying spells, he could tell that while Elena is not quite there yet but she is very close. Very close to figuring out the ultimate spell that has eluded him for over ten centuries. "To think I would find two such treasures upon my awakening. Fate must truly be on my side."

"Then perhaps you can enlighten us brother?" Vex and Drak asked at they joined him up in the air.

"Why are you so interested in the girl? The boy is our main objective." Vex pointed out.

"Yes, the boy Tamer is vital to our goal, but the girl is the missing piece of the puzzle we've been lacking." Char smiled.

"Missing piece? Her? I think all those years in suspended animation have left you senile old friend." Drak mocked.

"We shall see. Do you have anything else to report?" Char asked.

"Yes, our Dark Phantom allies believe they found another one of our brothers. However they are a bit reluctant to retrieve him." Drak reported.

"What's the problem? If they want more monsters, tell them we will hunt for more after they get the coffin." Char instructed.

"No it's not that," Vex said shaking her head. "It seems that the region where the coffin is buried is under the control of a very powerful Dark Phantom. The others are too afraid to cross him even more so than they are of us."

"I don't have time for this," Char said with a hint of annoyance. "Go retrieve our brother, and see if you can recruit this powerful Phantom. He might be useful." Char ordered. Vex and Drak bowed respectfully before casting a teleportation spell. Turning his attention back to Elena and Zick he failed to notice two beings floating up behind him.

"I certainly hope you're not planning on doing something vile to my grandson?" Tessa Grange warned.

"Because if you are, then you better prepare yourself for a fight." Theo Barrymore threatened.

Turning around Char found himself facing off with two ghosts. "So the young Tamer's grandparents continue to watch over him even after death. Why don't you two just crossover and leave him be?" Char mocked.

"Excellent suggestion. Why don't you crossover first and leave him alone?" Theo countered as his body started to glow brightly. Tessa body started glowing as well.

"Please what do you think I am, a Dark Phantom?" Char huffed. While it is true that Dark Phantoms tend to be repelled by the light of Light Specters, unfortunately that light is nothing but a minor annoyance to Wraiths. Still that light will bring unwanted attention to him. Needing to get rid of them as fast as he could, Char casts an anti-ghost spell at Theo which knocking him out of the sky.

"Theo!" Tessa cried flying to her husband.

"Tessa no, you've got to warn Zick!" Theo yelled. Nodding in agreement, Tessa reluctantly flew towards the Potato residence. Not wanting her to ruin his plans, Char fired more shots at Tessa. Tessa was able to dodge a few of them but the last struck her in the back. Luckily the force of the spell knocked her right into Elena's room.

"Grandma!" Zick cried seeing Tessa flying through the wall.

"Zick, Char is here!" Tessa warned.

"AAAAHHHH!" Elena screamed. Zick looked over at the Window to see Char hovering just outside.

"I was waiting for the right time, but I guess I no longer have the luxury of waiting." Char sneered.

"Elena, is something wrong?" Elena's parents, Harvey and Julie, came barging in her room after hearing her scream. "Did he do something to you?" they accused giving Zick the stink eye. Naturally they cannot see the ghosts present, so they assumed that Zick might be at fault.

"No, it's just that Purrcy startled me. Bad cat." Elena lied trying to get her parents out of harms way. Purrcy seemed to take offense at being accused of something he didn't do. With Elena's pet rabbit Puffy apparently trying to console the cat.

"As entertaining as this is, I do have pressing business to take care of." Char said making himself visible to all. Purrcy meowed in fear at Char's sudden appearance and dashed out of the room with Puffy following close behind him.

"Who are you? Where did you come from?" Harvey demanded raising his fists in a defensive stance.

"I'm from your nightmares," Char mused as he blew out a sleeping potions that engulfed the room putting all to sleep. "Now for my prize," Char proclaimed.

 ***ENVIRO DOM*** As the smoke cleared, Char was shocked to see that Zick and Elena were still standing. Protected by an energy bubble that shielded them from his spell. "Alright, I'm just going to say this once. Get out of Elena's house!" Zick demanded firing his Dom Beam at full power blasts, enhanced with the glasses. To his and Elena's surprise, Char caught the beam with one hand. Zick tried pumping more power into it, pushing the Wraith back, but Char didn't falter. Zick finally had to stop due to exhaustion.

"Not bad, but I think it's time to end this charade." Char said casting a magical bolt striking Zick down.

"Hey if you want Zick, you're going to have to go through me!" Elena challenged as she stood in front of Char trying to shield her best friend.

"Through us!" Tessa added as she joined Elena.

"Elena, Grandma, no get out of here." Zick pleaded weakly.

Char chuckled as he magically tossed aside Tessa with a wave of his hand. Char then blew some more sleeping potion at Elena putting her to sleep.

"Elena, grandma, NO!" Zick struggling to get back up. "Please, do whatever you want with me, but leave her alone!" Zick begged.

Char smiled with amusement. "My dear young Tamer. Whatever makes you think that I was after you?" Zick's eyes widen in shock as Char blew the sleeping potion in his face. The last thing that Zick could see was Char lifting Elena as the blackness overtook him.

* * *

"Zick, Zick." "Wake up." "Are you alright?" all these different voices said. Zick forced his eyes to open. As his vision returned, he saw his grandparents, his parents, Timothy, and Elena's parents gathered around him. The only person he couldn't find was...

"Elena? Where is she?" Zick demanded.

"I'm afraid that she's been kidnapped," Harvey informed him.

"But why Elena? Who was that strange man?" Julie getting hysterical.

"I don't know, but I swear that I will find her. No matter what." Zick vowed.

At the funeral home, Char smiled as he placed Elena's sleeping body down. "A bit sooner than I expected, but you are finally mine. And soon your Tamer friend will be as well." Char laughed in triumphant.


	6. Trip Down Memory Lane

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

Zick sat impatiently in class, counting the seconds ticking on the clock. Even though he'd much rather be out looking for Elena right now there's really not much he could for her at the moment, so his parents told him to go to school while they gather information and make plans with the other Tamers and Tutors. Reluctantly he agreed to follow his parent's advice, but it didn't mean he had to like it. After first period ended Zick got up to go to his next class when Soup and Ford, the school bullies approached him.

"Hey Zick, where's your girlfriend? I didn't see her in class today." Soup taunted. Due to the fact that Elena was kidnapped only a few hours ago, and that Zick's family convinced her parents not to call the police yet, very few people knew about it.

"Yeah, did she finally get too sick from your allergies and had to move to another city?" Ford laughed.

"You know that doesn't even make any sense," Zick said trying to keep his composure.

"Come on guys leave him alone," David advised. David used to be the leader of the bullies but ever since he got into a relationship with Annie he's become a lot nicer, and is pretty much the only one who can keep Soup and Ford in check.

"What? We just want to know what happen to Potato." Soup trying to sound innocent.

"Yeah man, it's not our fault that stupid girl is missing," Ford scoffed.

Unable to contain his anger in any longer, Zick grabbed Ford by the shirt and slammed him into the wall. "Don't you ever call Elena stupid," Zick threatened. Everyone present gasped in shock at what has transpired. For a meek loner like Zick to lash out like that is already front page gossip, but that was nothing compared to what else he was doing. David gulped in terror as he slowly backed away from Zick. Back when he was still a bully the one person in school he feared was Zick, ironically the bullies favorite victim, and now everyone can see why. In his rage, Zick lost control of his Dom energy causing his eyes to glow fiercely, freaking out everyone present.

"What is going on here?" their teacher Ms. Swift demanded responding to some loud noises she heard. Naturally seeing Zick holding Ford's shirt like that brought only one conclusion. "Zick you let go of him this instant and head to the principal's office!" Ms. Swift ordered. Zick let go of Ford and walked off to the principal's office. The look in his eye, even though they were no longer glowing, left everyone if fearful silence.

At the principal's office Zick pouted as he sat in front of the principal. "You know Zick I was rather surprised to hear that you started a fight. It's not like you." the Principal sighed. "Am I safe to assume that this has something to do with Elena's kidnapping? If so then please try not to worry about it, I'm certain that the police will find her." the Principal assured him.

"The police can't help," Zick retorted. The Principal crooked his eyebrow curiously. "Elena wasn't kidnapped by a normal person. She was kidnapped by a type of witch ghost called a Wraith and only I can find her." Zick insisted.

"Really Zick this isn't a time for wild stories. I know that kidnappers may seem like monsters at times, but you have to remember that monsters are not real." the Principal lectured.

"Monsters are not real?" Zick laughed. "Funny coming from a guy whose brother was a vampire," Zick accused.

The Principal looked over at the pictures on his desk of his brother Bowleg. A few months ago he, like most people, didn't really believe in monster. That is until his brother was cursed with vampirism, and more importantly it was Zick and Elena who helped change him back. "Is the situation that serious?" the Principal asked.

"Even more so," Zick said darkly.

Reluctantly the Principal got up and walked over to his safe. After inputting the combination, he pulled out a slip of paper and brought it back to his desk. Zick watched curiously as the Principal wrote something on the paper. "Here, this is a special pass that will excuse you from three days of school." the Principal said handing Zick the paper.

"Thank you sir," Zick said.

"Don't thank me, just find her." the Principal pleaded. With that Zick left to begin his mission to find his missing companion.

* * *

Zick wasn't the only one troubled by Elena's abduction. Back at the Barrymore house, the monsters were all in a slump. Far too depressed to do any of their usual shenanigans. Normally Timothy would welcome the peace and quiet for a change, but right now it is more peace and quiet than he can handle. "Come guys, buck up. Elena is a resourceful girl, she's been in tougher predicaments than this." Timothy said hoping to cheer up this crowd. Sadly no takers. "Hey Bombo are you hungry?" Timothy waving a pair of stinky old shoes that Zick outgrew. Hoping to at least get Bombo out of his funk. Since Bombo is pretty much the defacto leader of this bunch, if his mood improves then the other monsters might as well.

Bombo looked at the shoes up, sniffing them hard. The aroma of aged sweat, foot fungus, and worn out old fabric definitely made them more tantalizing. Under normal circumstances Bombo would have wolf down those shoes in a heartbeat, but this isn't a normal circumstance. "NO!" Bombo shaking his head and pushing the delicious shoes away. Shocking everyone present, since Bombo is not known for refusing food.

"Bombo what's wrong?" Timothy asked.

"Bombo cannot eat while Elena is in danger. From this moment on me swear not to eat anything until me make sure that Elena is safe." Bombo pledge raising his right hand. Bombo then proceeded to his trunk where he kept all of his old costumes.

"What are you doing?" Timothy asked.

"Elena missing, this looks like a job for Sherlock Bomes," Bombo said wearing his Sherlock Holmes outfit.

"Are you insane! The Wraiths got her and they have an army of Dark Phantoms! You'll be devoured even before you find where Elena is!" Timothy pointed out.

"You right," Bombo took his detective outfit off and started digging in the trunk again. "This is too much for a simple detective. We need a pirate, we need Captain Lardbladder!" Bombo said putting on his pirate costume and waving his sword made out of cardboard. Before Timothy can protest, Bombo or rather Capt. Lardbladder used his grappling hook to swing out the window and ran off.

"Oh geez, I've got to find him before he gets himself killed." Timothy was about to rush out when he heard a small whimpering. Looking over he saw little Bombolo crying over what had transpired. It was bad enough that the baby monster lost his Keeper/surrogate mother, but now he might be losing his wacky uncle as well. "Oh no," Timothy cringed. Even after all his years of watching and teaching monsters at the Detention Oasis, he's never gotten the hang of dealing with babies.

"Um don't worry Bombolo, Bombo is strong. He won't be eaten by Dark Phantoms. In fact he's fought against hundreds of Dark Phantoms back when he was a pirate." Ben-Talak reassured the baby. Bombolo looked up the Bobak curiously. "Did I ever tell you how Bombo used to sail with the legendary Capt. Bristlebeard on the pirate ship Mullet?" Bombolo shook his head as his eyes lit up eager to hear the tale. "Oh yes, back then he was Bristlebeard's first mate. On their final voyage together, they fought against the ghost pirates of the dreaded Unicorn. It was a fierce battle but they manage to defeat all the ghosts, but sadly the noble Capt. Bristlebeard fell and Bombo became the new captain of the Mullet. Since then he sailed the seven seas under the name Capt. Lardbladder and had many grand adventures." Ben-Talak continued to entertain the child with more stories as Timothy exited.

"It would seem that Ben-Talak's habit for lying has it uses," Timothy chuckled as he hurried after Bombo.

* * *

"Ow what hit me?" Elena groaned as she tried to force her eyes open. Rolling over to one side, she hit a wall. As she tried to roll over to the other side she hit another wall. Feeling around, she could tell that she was in a small confined space. As her vision cleared, she found herself in a... "Holy Spit, I'm in a coffin!" Elena screamed as she desperately climbed out of the coffin.

"Ah I see that my special guest is awake," Char said as he phased through the walls on the room.

"Where am I? What do you want from me? And why am I in a coffin?" Elena asked.

"I do apologize for putting you in the coffin but it was the only bedding we could find. Still I tried get you the most comfortable one. It's definitely more comfortable that the one I was in." Char chuckled.

"Yes it was pretty comfortable," Elena admitted feeling the mattress in the coffin she was in. "But you better start explaining yourself."

"Of course, how about you we talk over a late breakfast," Char invited. Even though her common sense told her to refuse, the rumbling in her stomach accepted the Wraith's offer. Elena followed Char to another room, taking mental notes of her surroundings. From the looks of all the empty rooms and halls she deduced that she must be inside some kind of office building or convention center, but she couldn't recognize design. She tried to look out the window to at least get an idea of where she is, but unfortunately Char had all the windows covered so that Elena couldn't see outside. Char led her to the funeral home's reception hall redesigned to look like a fancy dining room. The Dark Phantoms present there led Elena to her seat and presented her with a few appetizers and drinks before bringing in the main course. Elena recognized some of the food from various restaurants around town. Most likely stolen, she figured. Naturally Elena was reluctant to try any of the food, but once again hunger overrode her common sense.

"So why is it that you kidnapped me?" Elena asked as she carefully chewed her food.

"To put it simply, I need your help." Char said. Hearing that, Elena dropped her fork in shock.

* * *

After Zick got his special pass, he set about his plan to look for Elena. The first thing he did was to buy a dozen of the best calzones in the city. He then proceeded to specific manhole to the sewers. As Zick climbed down the manhole he couldn't help but reminisce. The sewer is home to one of the most dangerous monster around. In fact it was the first monster that he and Elena tamed together. Reaching the bottom of the ladder, Zick was greeted by the sewer's occupants.

"Well look who dropped by for a visit." "Our young tamer." "Did you come for more training?" the multiple Venus flytrap-like heads of one of the most dangerous monsters, the Digesting Plant, spoke in turn.

Zick gulped as he approached the plant. Even though he tamed the creature, that doesn't mean it's not dangerous. If left unattended, a Digesting Plant would devour anything and everything in its path. Zick is able to keep it under control thanks to his powers and the fact that he comes by to regularly feed it. "Actually I need your help," Zick pleaded.

"You may be our Tamer." "But our assistance still requires a price." the Digesting Plant reminded him. Zick held up the bag calzones. "Ah I've always wanted to try these." "The smell is so intoxicating." "So what do you want?" The Digesting Plant started drooling as they smelled the contents of the bag.

"Elena has been kidnapped by the Wraiths," Zick informed them. The Digesting Plant was surprisingly silent after hearing this. "If you help me find her, I will get you more calzones...ow!" Zick cried in pain as one of the Digesting Plants roots whipped the bag out of Zick's hand.

"You allowed our friend to be taken!" "How call yourself a man much less a Tamer?" "I expected better of you." The Digesting Plant hissed.

Zick lowered his head in shame. Every word they said stung since he knew it was true. "Please, if you want something else I could"

"Keep your pathetic bribe." "We'll find Elena, but not for you." "We do this for her." "But I sure would have loved to have tasted one of those calzones." Zick smiled as he watched the Digesting Plant eating the walls of the sewer, creating a new tunnel for them to traverse. The Digesting Plant may be a ravenous monster, but it still has a sense of loyalty to its friends and for that Zick is eternally grateful. Zick picked up his bag of calzones and carefully placed them near the Digesting Plant's roots. Even though they said they didn't want his bribe, these were a now a gift as thanks for their help, and Zick is positive that they will get hungry soon.

* * *

"What do you mean my help?" Elena demanded.

"First off child, how much do you know about us?" Char asked.

"Not much, that you guys are artificial ghosts of witches, and that your stomachs are like living cauldrons, and that you are big jerks," Elena counted off.

"In other words, very little. Not unexpected." Char mused as he took sip of his drink. "To understand my plight, you must understand where I came from and how I came to be." Elena sat quietly, wary but eager to hear the tale. "My story began oh about 1500 years ago. My childhood was a terrible one"

"Why, you had abusive parents or something?" Elena interrupted.

"Quiet the opposite actually," Char replied. "My parents were quite loving for witches, but the era I lived in was a cruel and harsh one. You see I spent my childhood at a time you humans like to refer to as the red plague." Elena choked as she heard that, recalling how her teachers taught her how the plague wiped out halve of Europe. "It was indeed a dark time. Humans, Monsters, Witches, no one was spared from this invisible foe. Death and despair all around me. I saw things that no child should ever see." Char shuttered in horror. "As those closest to me succumbed to the plague I began to fear for my own life. Abandoning my family and my home I sought refuge. I then began experimenting with various potions and spells not only trying to find a way to save myself from the plague, but from death itself."

"Hold up, you were trying to make yourself immortal?" Elena gasped in disbelief.

* * *

"Achoo!" Zick sneezed as he wandered around in the park. Taking a breath of his inhaler, his allergies told him that there were monsters nearby. Just what he was looking for.

 ***GESTURE DOM*** Waving his hands around Zick telekinetically pulled the monsters out of the trees and bushes and other various hiding places. "Let us go." "What do you want from us?" "Are you going to capture us now?" "No please don't put me in a dom box." The monsters all pleaded.

"I just want some information. Do you guys know where I can find the Wraiths?" Zick asked.

"What makes you think we would know anything about those?" one of the monsters asked.

"So you do know something?" Zick interrogated.

"Are you nuts? Do you know how many Dark Phantoms are working for those guys? We want to stay as far away from them as possible." the Monsters said.

"If you're trying to avoid them, then you must know where they are hiding." Zick reasoned.

"Look all we know is that there are a lot of Dark Phantoms gathering around the old cemetery." the Monster said.

"Ghosts at a cemetery, that's unusual." Zick said sarcastically.

"Well that's all we got. So can us or let us go." the monsters demanded.

Releasing his Gesture Dom, Zick letting the monsters go. As they all scurried away, Zick thought about what they said about the cemetery, but quickly disregarded it since it was too obvious.

* * *

"You were trying to make yourself immortal?" Elena gasp. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

"Is it? How many of your kind sought that prize? Jason and his Argonauts sailed to the ends of the Earth to find the Golden Fleece. King Arthur sent his best Knights to look for the Holy Grail. And how many explorers went off searching for the Fountain of Youth? Even to this day, your so called doctors and scientist are seeking ways to extend your meager human lives." Char countered.

Elena had to give him that one. "So what went wrong?" Elena asked.

Char nodded as he continued his tale. "As I pursued my studies, I became one of the greatest scholars in Anguanes' history, and before I knew it, I became the Lord of Witches. Even so my status and knowledge did nothing to get me any closer to my goal. Then one day while gathering supplies, I witness a Dark Phantom devouring a monster. Now I've always heard how Dark Phantoms try to come back to life by eating monsters, but this was the first time I was witnessing it first hand. After seeing the Phantom becoming somewhat solid, I realize what I was missing."

"A life," Elena retorted.

"Just the opposite actually," Char chuckled. "You see Ghosts can exist indefinitely. They don't age, never get sick, and they don't really need to feed. They only eat monsters so that they can briefly come alive. I realized then and there, that the key to immortality is not trying to extend one's life, but to continue on existing after death."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're saying that you think that the key to becoming immortal is by becoming ghosts?" Elena said in astonishment. Finally understanding that page she found.

"Ironic isn't it," Char joked.

"So I guessing it didn't worked," Elena commented.

"No I'm afraid not," Char admitted.

"So what went wrong?" Elena asked curiously.

"You see my dear, after countless experiments, an accident happen. The potion I was brewing exploded turning me and my covenant into living ghosts. Giving us near invincible bodies, stomachs that act like cauldrons to brew our potions, and freedom from earthly limitations." Char explained.

"So what's the problem?" Elena asked. "It sounds like you got everything you wanted."

"Everything except what I was truly after," Char clarified.

"Immortality," Elena whispered. Char nodded.

* * *

Zick found himself standing on the bridge. It was the same bridge that he and Elena had their first adventure together when he agreed to help look for her missing cat. Ironically they stumbled on a case of missing dogs. It was also then that Zick first discovered his powers as a Tamer, but he wasn't here to reminisce.

 ***VOICE DOM*** _"River Monster hear the voice of your Tamer."_ Zick commanded.

"I hear and obey the words of the Tamer," the River Monster responding to Zick's voice dom.

"River Monster have you seen Elena or might have heard anything about the Wraiths that abducted her?" Zick asked.

"I'm sorry Tamer, but who's Elena?" the River Monster asked.

"Elena is the girl who's always with me," Zick clarified.

"Forgive me Tamer, but all humans look alike to me," the River Monsters apologized.

"It's alright, but have you heard of where the Wraiths might be hiding?" Zick asked.

"I don't know if this is important, but I saw several Dark Phantoms heading to Quick Silver Falls." the River Monster replied.

"Bristlebeard's old hide out," Zick said to himself. An abandoned pirate hideout would be an ideal place for the Wraiths to hide. "Can you take me there?" Zick asked.

"I obey the words of the Tamer," the River Monster replied he helping Zick onto his back. The River Monster quickly traveled down the river until he arrived at the waterfall. "This is as far as I can take you," the River Monster informed him.

"Thanks for your help," Zick thanked as he jumped off. Entering the old hideout, Zick couldn't sense any Dark Phantoms or Wraiths and the ghosts presents were the ones in his memory. Everywhere he looked all he could see were the images of when he and Elena first came here looking for treasure and when they battled Bristlebeard the first ghost they fought together. Zick was so lost in his thoughts that he failed to notice two figures walking up behind him.

* * *

"You see my dear, my formula was flawed. Even after becoming ghost like, we are dying." Char confessed. "So in order to save myself and my brothers, we sealed ourselves in magical coffins hoping that one day, we will find a way to survive."

"So what do you need me for?" Elena asked cautiously. Char smiled as he waved his hand over his head, and just like that several words and symbols appeared in the air. Things that Elena recognized. "Holy spit, that's my research!" Elena gasped.

"No this is my research," Char corrected her. "Though I can understand how you can confuse the two. They are quite similar." Char chuckled. "You see my dear, this is why I need you. Somehow you manage to recreate my work in a manner of days, what took me decades to accomplish." Char applauded sarcastically since the only reason she did it so quickly was because he was secretly helping her. "I don't believe it was an accident that you freed me from my stasis. I believe it was fate. Fate that guided us together so that we can unlock the secrets of true immortality. So I ask you, will you help me?" Char extending his hand.

"So what do I get out of this?" Elena asked.

"Isn't it obvious. With the formula you will become immortal as well." Char replied.

"And if I refuse?" Elena challenged crossing her arms.

"Why would you refuse such an offer?" Char asked.

"Oh because I don't trust you. I've dealt with witches before and I know that you always have to watch your back when dealing with them." Elena said.

"If you refuse, then I guess there's no point in keeping you here." With a wave of his hand the doors opened.

"You're just letting me go?" Elena asked suspiciously.

"Yes, I neither have the time nor the patience to force you to work for me. But if you go then I will have to use my alternate plan." Char warned.

"What alternate plan?" Elena asked.

"I won't bore you with the details but I can tell you that it involves experimenting on Tamers especially a certain young boy with a peculiar visor." Char chuckled.

"Zick!" Elena gasped. "Why him?"

"Because I just learned that ghosts become even more so alive after eating Tamers, and that boy has a unique Dom energy. Perhaps he might be the missing ingredient for my formula." Char implied. Elena was about to respond when two Dark Phantoms came floating in.

"Hey Boss, Vex and Drak are back." the Phantoms reported.

"Didn't I tell you I didn't want to be disturbed?" Char hissed.

"But you told us to tell you when they got back," one of the Phantoms cowered.

"They also said that they need to see you. It's urgent." the other Phantom added.

"Fine," Char sneered as got up. "If you excuse me I need to attend this, but please consider my more than generous offer." As Char and the two ghosts left the room, he waved his hand closing the doors behind him.

Elena jumped out of her seat and rushed to the doors. As expected they were locked. Looking around the room, Elena searched the drawers and cabinets for anything that can help her. While most were empty, some had a few plates, silverware, nothing really helpful, but one did have something of interest. "Hello what do we have here," Elena said to herself as she picked up what looked like business cards. "Old Mills Funeral Home," Elena read on the card which also had the address. That's when everything clicked into place; the empty rooms, this reception hall for parties, the coffin she was sleeping in. She realized that she must be in the old cemetery. "Huh ghosts hiding in a cemetery, that's original." she said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

"Is there something wrong?" Char said suddenly as he phased through the wall. He was followed by Vex and Drak.

"Oh no, I was just looking for some salt." Elena lied, hiding the business cards in her pocket.

"Really?" Char looking at the salt shaker on the table.

"Oh so that's where it is," Elena playing innocent.

"This is the girl who you think is the missing key?" Vex said skeptically.

"I think we should focus our energy on getting the boy," Drak agreed.

Wait!" Elena yelled getting their attention. "I'll help you but only under one condition. You stay away from my family and friends especially Zick. Deal?" Elena demanded.

"Deal," Char accepted. The two shook hands. As they shook Elena vowed to herself that she will do anything to protect her best friend.


	7. Breadcrumbs

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

Inside an old cave hidden behind the waterfall is the pirate Bristlebeard secret hideout. There Zick the Monster Tamer came here hoping to find his missing friend Elena but instead he found two others sneaking up behind him. "How many times must I say I'm sorry, but in my defense I wouldn't have attacked you if you two hadn't snuck up on me like that." Zick pointed out.

"Owie, owie, but Zick did not need to hit Bombo so hard." Bombo cried.

"I said I was sorry," Zick apologized again. "And besides, what are you two doing here anyway?"

"Well Bombo here thought he could find Elena by playing pirate!" Timothy ridiculed.

"Bombo came here to get me boat the Mullet so me can search the seas," Bombo smiled proudly. Both Zick and Timothy didn't bother to point out the fact that Elena wasn't taken over the ocean. Not to mention that the Mullet has more holes in it than Swiss cheese from the battle with the Unicorn, so there's no way it can sail for very long. In fact it's a miracle that it still floats at all.

"So what brings you here?" Timothy asked Zick.

"I heard that several Dark Phantoms were gathering here so I thought that maybe the Wraiths were hiding here." Zick explained.

"Well as you can see that they are most definitely not hiding here," Timothy pointing out the obvious. "But do think I may know why they were here." Timothy guided Zick and Bombo to what looked like a storage area. "Over there," Timothy pointed. Zick investigated the area Timothy was pointing at and found and empty space.

"So what?" Zick asked not really understanding.

"Take a look at dirt here. There was something here that was removed recently." Timothy explained.

Zick examined the ground. The slight discoloration in the dirt did indicate that there was something there. Something big and rectangular. "Another coffin?" Zick guessed.

"That would be my guess," Timothy agreed. "It would seem that Char is planning on reviving his entire covenant."

"But what is it even doing here?" Zick wondered.

"There are two likely scenarios. After the Wraiths were sealed, they were separated and hidden so that no once can find them, and this just happened to be one of their hiding places. That or Bristlebeard acquired it in one of his pirate raids and brought it here not knowing what it really was. Either way this proves that the Wraiths got what they were after and are long gone. I'm afraid that this lead is a dead end." Timothy informed him.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** In his frustration, Zick fired a full powered Dom blast at the spot the coffin once stood, blowing up almost everything in the path of the beam. Scaring Bombo so much that the pirate monster hid in some old barrels. After about a minute or so, Zick finally ceased fire due to exhaustion.

"Feel better," Timothy asked.

"A little, but I'll feel a lot better when I do that to Char." Zick hissed. As the rage drained from his body, Zick dropped to his knees in depression realizing that he failed. "What am I going to do? I'm all out ideas. How am I going to find Elena now?" Zick cried.

Timothy sympathizes with the boy. He hated the feeling helplessness especially when one of their friends is in danger. That's when he decided on a risky course of action. "There may be a way Zick," the Tutor finally said. Zick looked at his old friend curiously. "It dangerous and has a small chance of success. Not only that it might also get us in trouble with the Maximum Tutors." Timothy warned.

"If it'll help us find Elena, then I'd say let's do it." Zick said with determination. Bombo after crawling out of his barrel stood beside Zick with equal determination.

"Alright then come with me!" Timothy ordered as he ran out of the cave with Zick and Bombo following close behind.

* * *

Over at the funeral home, Char floated to the main entrance to meet with Vex and Drak. "This better be important," Char warned. "I certain hope you didn't disturb me just to report that you failed to acquire our brother?"

"No we succeeded," Drak gulped directing his attention to the new coffin.

"But there is a complication," Vex finished.

"Complication? Did that Dark Phantom give you trouble?" Char asked.

"No brother, apparently he crossed over some time ago. It's just that these wimps never bothered to check up on him." Drak reported.

"Then what's the problem?" Char demanded getting frustrated.

"Well it's the size," Drak said pointing to the coffin. The coffin was indeed big. About 10 feet long.

"So what of it? Just break the seal and free our brother." Char ordered.

"That's the thing. There's only one 'brother' who would have required a coffin of this size." Vex reminded him.

"Bruticus," Char groaned. Bruticus was a very tall witch, rather unusual for their kind. Smart as he was powerful, both in terms of magic and physical strength. Back then he served as Char's second in command, often undermining his authority and constantly competed with Char for the head position. Right now the last thing Char needed is another foolish power struggle with his old rival. Especially not now when he is so close to his goal.

"Shall we free him?" Drak asked.

"No, put him in storage. We may have use for him later." Char decided. A group of Dark Phantoms came in and carried the coffin off. "Now come, we have other matters to attend to." Char guided Vex and Drak to where Elena was waiting for him.

Char guided Elena to the special room he had prepared for her. Inside was the coffin she was sleeping in earlier, along with desk, various books and scrolls, and jars filled with different potions. "I trust that this will fit you satisfaction?" Char asked his newest ally.

"Are you kidding me? I can't work under these conditions! Listen if you want me to help you, I have a few demands." Elena said. Drak was about to teach this little impudent girl some manners, but Char raised his hand telling him to hold back.

"And what would these demands be?" Char asked.

"Well first off," Elena sniffing herself. "I'm going to need a shower and a change of clothes. Phew, I've been wearing this same outfit for two days now."

"What is it with girls these days? In my day we only bathed once a year." Vex commented.

"And you wonder why no one ever asked you out," Drak laughed. This of course prompted Vex to punch Drak in the face.

Ignoring the sibling squabble, Elena continued, "second I'm going to need my laptop."

"Laptop? What is that exactly?" Char asked.

"It's my personal computer, with all my data stored." Elena explained. Char and the other Wraiths and few of the Dark Phantoms all gave her blank stares. "Right before your time," Elena joked. "Look books and scrolls are fine for you old timers, but my generation, we need computers okay."

"That wouldn't happen to be that strange contraption you were fiddling with at the library?" Char asked.

"Yes. Wait how did you know I was at the library?" Elena asked.

"You're not only one who likes to do research in their spare time my dear." Char quickly said not wanting Elena to know that he's been spying on her. "That device, would it per chance be in your room?" Char asked before Elena got too curious.

"Yes," Elena replied.

"Very well, then I shall personally get this laptop and pick up a change of clothes for you while I'm at it." Char volunteered.

"Hey you can't just go through a girl's belongings! It's indecent. Besides you don't know what else I need. I should go." Elena argued.

"Nonsense, I should be able to handle it. Unless this is a ploy to get a message out to your Tamer friends?" Char accused.

"What? No!" Elena denied even though it was true. "I mean my laptop requires several things to work: my adapter, the power cord, memory drives, floppy disks, and my flex capacitor. Everyone knows that a laptop is useless without a flex capacitor." Elena smiled hoping that Char will buy her lie.

"And yet you didn't seem to require any of those other items in the library," Char catching her bluff.

"Well I don't need everything at the same time. Back in the library I was just um, collecting data. Yeah that's it, but now that I'm doing actual work, I'm going to need all my stuff." Elena justified.

"I think this is a trick," Vex whispered.

"But she does have a point. Even an artist doesn't need all his brushes all the time." Drak putting in his two cents.

"So can I go?" Elena asked.

"No, there will be no need." Char finally decided.

"But," Elena tried to argue.

"If need be, I'm certain that your parents help get all the supplies you need." Char grinned.

"You said you wouldn't hurt them!" Elena accused.

"I won't, but a simple hypnotic spell will make them very compliant for a short time." Char explained. Elena gulped, it seems that Char has just outwitted her, but this was just round one. She still had one last ace up her sleeves. "Is there anything else you require?" Char asked.

"Yes, I'm going to need a cauldron." Elena said. Surprising everyone present.

"What do you need a cauldron for? You're not a witch." Vex said.

"Exactly! You guys want me to find a cure for whatever your problem is, that means I will need to experiment with magical potions. So unless one of you Wraiths is willing to be my personal petri dish, I will need my own cauldron brew potions in." Elena explained.

"What's a petri dish?" Drak wondered. Vex just shrugged.

"Valid point my dear," Char applauded. "But where would you be able to acquire one?"

"Well there is on inside Emily's mansion," Elena suggested.

"You mean that manor currently under control of the Tutors?" Char seeing through her ploy. "Surely you can do better than that?" Char mused knowing that he outwitted her.

"Well the only other place I can think of is the Anguanes Fair," Elena admitted.

"And where will that be?" Char asked.

"Inside an old tree in the forest," Elena said.

"And which tree would that be?" Char asked.

"Here let me write the address for you, oh wait, I can't do that because trees don't have addresses!" Elena shot back.

"Can't you just draw a map?" Vex suggested.

"Okay," Elena took a piece of paper and a pen and drew a bunch of trees with an X on the center tree. "Here you go," Elena said handing the makeshift map to them. Everyone started glaring at her. "What, I never claimed I was an artist. But I got to say this is probably one of my best works." Elena joked.

"Fine, Vex you accompany her to the Anguanes Fair." Char ordered.

"But Char," Vex objected.

"Keep a close eye on her, we don't want her to tip the Tamers just yet." Char winked.

"Fine," Vex pouted. She really hates these babysitting jobs.

"Drak you are in charge while I am gone. Continue searching for more of our brothers and get more monsters for our Dark Phantom allies." Char instructed.

"As you wish brother," Drak said respectfully.

* * *

Later at the Potato residence, Char carefully floated into Elena room. The room is definitely a lot cleaner than when he first came here. Most likely due to her parents wanting their daughter to come home to a clean room. Looking around he found laptop on the desk. Remembering seeing her plug and unplug the device at the library, Char figured that the cord must be important some how. After unplugging the computer, he then searched her drawers for whatever it was that Elena was talking about. While he found several devices, he had no idea what they were or which ones were important. He was just about to grab all of them when Elena's mom Julie came to clean her daughter's room.

Ever since her daughter's abduction, Julie comes in every hour on the hour to clean Elena's room, hoping beyond hope that it was all just a horrible dream and that she will find her daughter inside. However what she found instead was the last person she wanted to see. "You!" Julie pointing accusingly at Char. "What have you done to my daughter!" Julie holding the vacuum hose like a bat.

"You're daughter is fine, and if you help me she will be returned better than ever." Char promised.

"WHERE'S MY ELENA!" Julie swinging the vacuum hose in a fit of rage. To her surprise the hose just passed through the intruder like if he was a ghost.

"Feel better now?" Char asked. Julie was about to scream in terror when Char blew some dust into her face causing her to go into a hypnotic daze. "Now that you have calmed down a bit," Char joked. "How about you help me get all the devices Elena needs for her laptop, while I get her some fresh clothes." Char ordered. Julie nodded and obediently walked over to the desk and pulled out a bunch of memory drives, cell phone, and connecting cables, and phone charger. As she did that Char went through Elena's closets and grabbed about a weeks worth of clothes. A week's worth by his standards anyways. After using a shrinking spell, he stuffed everything into a handbag that he got from the store. "I thank you for your assistance," Char said politely to the still mind control human. "If all goes well, your daughter will be back in your arms very soon."

As Char left the premise, the spell on Julie wore off. Shaking the haze from her head, she recalled seeing the man, no monster who took her daughter. Looking around she could also see that several of Elena's belonging were now also gone. Not knowing what just happened or what to do, Julie screamed in terror and fear.

* * *

Somewhere in the old forest Elena guided Vex and a few Dark Phantoms to the old tree that serves as the entrance to the Anguanes Fair. Only to find that the Fair not only abandoned but in ruins as well. "What happened here?" Elena wondered. True Zick burned the place to the ground when he was a Bommerbang, but she figured that the witches would have rebuilt it by now.

"An interesting question. I'm rather curious myself." Vex said as she vomited out a blue grayish powder. Throwing the powder into the sky they all saw the ghostly images of the Anguanes preparing for Moog Magister's birthday. The next scene showed Moog entering and he seemed less than enthusiastic about the event and proceeded to destroy the decorations as well as restraining the Anguanes. He then started talking to Emily about something, but since the spell only showed images, there was no dialogue. Emily then left and returned with Hector Sinistro. More discussions took place that they couldn't hear, then Moog killed Emily as well as the rest of the Anguanes before shaking hands with Hector.

"I guess this is when Moog and Hector teamed up to invade the Ancient Armory through the 101st door." Elena commented. Even though she always hated the Anguanes and Emily especially, she still wouldn't have wish for this fate to befall them.

"On the bright side our witches problem seem to have been solved." Vex cheered. She was afraid that they would have to fight the Anguanes for their cauldrons. Knowing how protective witches are for them, but now that they are gone, it's easy pickings. "Well go ahead, pick whichever one you want." Vex pushing Elena along.

Elena looked around the Fair, and while there were plenty of cauldrons around, Elena wasn't interested in them. She was looking for a good place to hide the business cards so that maybe Zick or some of her friends could find it and lead them to her. Which in retrospect a lot harder than she thought it would be, since Vex has been watching her like a hawk the entire, making it harder to plant the cards. Originally Elena was planning to drop the cards out in the woods like breadcrumbs, but there was no way she could do that without Vex noticing. Now she had to do it somewhere in the Anguanes Fair. Which has its own set of problems since she wasn't sure that Zick would even come here, and even if he did he wouldn't know to look for the cards.

While wandering around one cauldron caught Elena's attention. She didn't know why but it just seem to call out to her. As she approached she recognized it as the cauldron she used to brew the cure for when the Anguanes turned Zick into a Bommerbang. If Zick felt the same connection to the cauldron as she did, then maybe Zick might find the business card hidden here. Elena sighed longingly wondering what Zick is doing now. While she had no doubts that he and the others were looking for her, she couldn't help but worry that they will never find her. Suddenly she felt cold chill as a ghostly hand landed on her shoulder.

"Does this one catches your fancy?" Vex asked pointing to the cauldron. "It seems you have a connection with it."

"I um, used it some time ago to help Zick." Elena gulped.

"Zick? Your little Tamer boyfriend?" Vex teased.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Elena objected. "Besides he likes Lay." Elena sighed.

"This Lay, is she a Tamer as well?" Vex asked.

"Yes," Elena answered wondering why Vex would ask that.

"Makes sense that he'd drawn to one of his own kind," Vex shrugged.

"Wait what do you mean, his own kind?" Elena asked.

"What? You're a Monster Keeper and you don't know." Vex laughed, causing Elena to scowl at her. "Just like how Tutors disguise themselves as cats to walk among the humans, Tamers long ago took the form of humans for the same purpose." Vex explained.

"Holy spit are you saying that Tamers are monsters in disguise as well?" Elena couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Of course, where do you think they get all their powers from? Wait you didn't think that they were some kind of super humans did you?" Vex laughed like it was obvious. "Still I wonder why they never told you."

"I guess all those years in exile they must have forgotten." Elena heart sank as she said that. Ever since she became part of this world of monsters, Zick and the other Tamers treated her as a bit of an outcast, and now she knows why. The Tamers may have forgotten their monster origins, but deep down on a subconscious level they knew they were not human and had no desire to socialize with them. Making seem like her desire of being viewed as an equal by them is nothing more than a pipe dream.

"Hey boss we found something," one of the Dark Phantoms called out.

"What is it?" Vex hissed. The Dark Phantoms showed her jars and vials that were filled with monster body parts. "It appears you found the Anguanes supply stocks. This will be very useful." Vex smiled. "Alright load it up we're leaving."

"But I still need to find a cauldron." Elena protested.

"Seems to me that you found one," Vex pointing to the cauldron that Elena was planning to hide the business cards in.

"Um boss, there are a lot of these." the Dark Phantoms looking all the jars they found. "Which ones do you want?"

Vex moaned in frustration as she vomited out the same shrinking potion that Char used and threw it at the jars. Soon all the jars became as small as marbles. "Put those in the cauldron, we'll leave as soon as it's full." Vex ordered. As the Vex was busy overseeing the Dark Phantom's labors, Elena took this opportunity to secretly hide the business cards around out in the open. Hopefully the ghosts would be too preoccupied to notice them.

* * *

Meanwhile just outside, Zick and the others were approaching the Anguanes Fair. "Timothy, what makes you think we'll find a clue in here?" Zick asked. While he knows better than to question Timothy's judgment, he really hates dealing with witches.

"Yes, why? Me no like it here." Bombo shivered knowing how much witches love using monsters for their potions.

"The Anguanes were the ones who imprisoned the Wraiths in the first place. So most likely they may know where the other coffins are, and possible the spell used to capture them as well." Timothy reasoned but clearly he didn't want to be here any more than his companions did. While they could see the logic in this course of action, that didn't mean they had to like it.

As the trio of Tamer, Tutor, and Monster made their way into the tree, they found a surprising sight. "Elena!" Zick yelled seeing his old friend safe and sound; and surrounded by Dark Phantoms and a Wraith. "Get away from her!" Zick screamed.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** Zick and Timothy both fired at the Dark Phantoms causing a few of them to dissolve. Bombo drew out his cardboard sword and started swinging it at the Phantoms wanting to eat him. All the while Vex just stood back, standing or rather hovering next to Elena.

Zick saw Vex floating next to Elena. Pulling out his glasses, he charged up a full power blasts and shot it right at the Wraith. Surprisingly Vex did not move and simply took the full force of the blast. "You'll pay for that young Tamer!" Vex said sounding more pleased than upset.

"Wait you promised not to hurt him!" Elena pleaded.

"I may have, but that doesn't mean I won't defend myself should he attack me." Vex grinned. Elena cursed at that loophole as Vex started shooting magical bolts at Zick. Zick desperately dodged her attacks while continuously firing back. After taking one too many hits, Vex fell to the ground. "Is that all you got Tamer," Vex laughed.

"Not by a long shot!" Zick yelled as he charged up another full blast and shot her with it. Vex screamed as Zick's Dom beam continuously struck her! As his Dom energy ran out, he prepared to charge up another round when something hit him on the side of his head. "Hey what the?" Zick looked over at what hit him and saw that it was one of Elena's shoes.

"That's enough Zick!" Elena scolded now wearing only one shoe.

"Elena what's going on?" Zick demanded.

"I'm telling you to back off! You too Bombo." Elena said to the monster who was doing some wrestling moves on the Dark Phantoms. Reluctantly Bombo released the ghosts he was holding. "I'm sorry Zick," Elena cried.

"All ghosts grab the cauldron, we're leaving!" Vex ordered.

"But the monster," some of the Dark Phantoms pleaded wanting to eat Bombo.

"Stay here and fight them if you wish, as for me us we're going." Vex said as she regurgitated a teleportation potion. Hearing that the Dark Phantoms all hurried and lifted the cauldron now full of miniaturized jars.

"Elena don't go!" Zick begged as Vex threw her potion on the ground creating a pink cloud that teleported them elsewhere. Leaving behind a distraught Tamer, Tutor, and Monster.

About a mile away, Vex, the Dark Phantoms, and Elena materialized. "I must say you certainly proved your loyalty back there, any doubts I have about you are now gone." Vex praised.

"That's great, I just hope that Char remembers to bring me an extra pair of shoes." Elena ranted. Even though things didn't go quite as she planned, she only hope that Zick gets her message.

* * *

"Why? Why did she go with them?" Zick cried as he picked up the shoe Elena threw at him.

"Whatever it is I'm sure she has her reasons," Timothy assured him.

"Elena! Bombo sad, why Elena so mean!" Bombo cried grabbing the shoe from Zick. "Oh Elena leave nice, tasty, sweet smelling shoe," Bombo started drooling as he sniffed the shoe's aroma.

"Bombo give it back," Zick demanded. After all he didn't want to explain to Elena that he got one of her shoes eaten when she came back.

"No! This is all Bombo have to remember her by." Bombo inhaling even deeper now.

"You know she's not dead," Timothy tried to reason with him even though he knows it's pointless.

"OW!" Bombo cried in pain after this small rectangular object came flying out of Elena's shoes and jammed into Bombo's nose. "Why does Elena have hurty things inside her shoes?"

"Probably so you don't eat them," Zick joked since he used similar methods. "What's this?" Zick wondered taking the object from Bombo's nose. "It a business card. Old Mill's Funeral Home?" Zick read.

"Why would she have a card for that?" Timothy wondered.

Zick recalled how some of the monsters told him that the Dark Phantoms were collecting at the old cemetery. "That's it, that must be where the Wraiths are hiding! She was trying to tell us where they are." Zick realized.

"So ghosties are hiding in a cemetery? Creepy." Bombo shuttered.

"But then why go with them? Why not just come back with us?" Zick wondered.

"I'm sure she has her reasons. The fact that she just gave us their location is proof of that. We're just going to have to trust her." Timothy advised.

"You're right, let's hurry to the cemetery." Zick insisted.

"Hold up Zick, now is not the time for rash decisions," Timothy stopping him.

"But"

"No buts, we can't just blindly rush into an enemy stronghold. We need to make a plan." Timothy lectured.

"Right, so what do we do?" Zick reluctantly agreed.

"For now you and Bombo head back home, call the other Tamers and let them know what has happened. I must inform the council of this revelation." Timothy instructed.

"Alright," Zick pouted not at all liking having to wait.

"And Zick please don't do anything foolish. Any reckless action could put Elena in more danger than she's already in." Timothy warned.

"I understand," Zick sulked.

"Bombo, make sure Zick goes straight home; and that means no snack breaks. Elena's life might be on the line." Timothy stressed. Bombo saluted his Tutor before escorting Zick back home. Timothy hated use Elena's situation to motivate them, but desperate times call for desperate measures.


	8. Secrets

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

Timothy stood before the Council of Maximum Tutors, and they did not pleased at what he had to report to them. "So you're saying that you and Tamer Zick went to the Anguanes Fair, even though you know that it is forbidden to go anywhere near there, where you encountered the Wraith and the former Monster Keeper Elena?" Carnaby-Croth asked.

"Yes," Timothy admitted.

"And that Elena passed on to you this card which you believe is the location to where the Wraith's are hiding?" Deputy-Deth added examining the card.

"I do," Timothy nodded.

"This same Elena who willing left with the Wraith rather than take the opportunity to escape or be rescued? How do we even know if this information is accurate?" Bartleby-Bath accused.

"Well I for one have faith in Elena," Jeremy-Joth jumped in. "She's proven herself time and time again; and let us not forget that she has helped protecting this city several times over. So rather than question her loyalty how about we discuss what to do with the information she provided." Jeremy challenged.

"Jeremy is right, we should gather the Tamers and make plans." Croth proposed.

"But what if Elena has betrayed us and that this is all a trap?" Deth worried.

"Yes, this must be investigated throughly before we make any hasty decisions." Bath suggested.

"Well whatever you decide I hope you do it soon. Char is already attempting to awakening a the rest of his brood. If we don't stop him soon, we may be facing against an army of Wraith instead of just four." Timothy warned, causing all of the Tutors to glance at each other nervously.

* * *

Over at Zick's house. "Open up I know you're in there!" Harvey Potato, Elena's father, demanded pounding on the door. With him his wife Julie and their nephew Lonzo, who came after hearing that his favorite cousin was kidnapped to give support to his favorite family members. After a few seconds, Zob opened the door to greet his neighbor.

"Harvey, Julie, kid, what a pleasant surprise." Zob gulped. While everyone has been on edge since Elena's abduction, things have been especially tense between the two families since the Zicks have asked them not to call the police. When Harvey asked 'why', Zob merely said to trust him.

"Don't you Harvey me! I know you are in cahoots with that man who kidnapped my daughter!" Harvey accused.

"What? That's ridiculous!" Greta denied, defending her husband.

"Why would you think that?" Zob asked.

"Oh I don't know, how about the fact that you don't want me to call the cops! That your son was in my daughter's room at the time of the kidnapping. The fact that the kidnapper came back to steal my daughter's laptop and cell phone. I know my daughter spends a lot of time here, so I'm guessing that she probably knows a few secrets that you'd rather not be exposed." Harvey deduced.

"But Uncle Harvey I keep telling you, Elena wasn't kidnapped; she out fighting some invisible monsters!" Lonzo insisted doing strip mall karate moves. Ever since the 8 year old found out monsters were real and living inside the Zick residence, he's been trying to get in on the fun, much to Elena and Zick's chagrin.

Zob and Greta looked at each other nervously. While it is true that Elena knows their secrets, they weren't involved in the kidnapping and would never do anything to put the girl in danger; but before they could explain, or come up with an excuse, Zick came rushing into the house. "Mom, Dad, everyone! I know where Elena is!" Zick announced before he noticed that Elena's family were in his house.

"You know where my daughter is? Tell me now!" Harvey demanded shaking the boy.

"Mr. Potato, how about letting me talk to my son in private first." Zob offered since he didn't want to get them involved in this.

"Absolutely not! This concerns my daughter, and I'm not leaving until I hear what this hooligan has to say!" Harvey huffed.

"Sir I think you better leave," Zob said sternly. While he feels for the Potato's situation, he didn't approve of the man insulting his son like that.

"I'm not leaving!" Harvey vowed grabbing Zob by the shirt.

"Enough of this nonsense!" a new voice yelled. Everyone turned to see two cats, Timothy and Jeremy standing at the door.

"Hey it's the talking cats that are not really cats!" Lonzo remembered them from his previous visits.

"You know this is a violation of the rules right?" Jeremy informed his companion.

"Sue me," Timothy retorted. "Besides, as her parents I do feel they have right to know." Jeremy nodded giving his approval.

"Talking cats. That's it. I'm going hysterical." Julie starting to go insane. The lost of her daughter is already putting an unbelievable strain on her, but now this could more than likely drive her over the edge. Greta quickly moved in to comfort the poor lady.

"What are you trying to pull here?" Harvey demanded shaking Zob thinking that this is some kind of trick.

"Bombo please restrain him," Timothy ordered.

"Hey what is going on here!" Harvey demanded as some invisible force held him back and lifted him off the ground.

"Alright everyone show yourselves," Timothy instructed. One by one the monsters inside the Barrymore house made themselves visible.

"Finally," Lonzo cheered. Like Elena before she got the gift of sight, he's always wanted to see the monsters in their full glory, and now he can. Naturally the sudden appearance of monsters caused the two grown-up humans to scream in terror before fainting. "Well that went about as well as expected," Lonzo said sarcastically. "So which one of you messed with my face?" Lonzo asked the monsters.

"That would be Bombo," Bombo raising his hand, accidentally dropping Harvey.

As Greta and Lonzo tended to their unconscious guests, Zob and Zick consulted with the Tutors. "What has the council decided?" Zob asked.

"Are we going to rescue Elena now?" Zick asked impatiently.

"For the moment you are to stand down," Timothy said sternly.

"What?" Zick screeched.

"As we speak a team of special Ops Tutor guards are scouting the area. Once we have an idea of where Elena is kept and what kind of security they have, that is when you and the other Tamers will move in to rescue her." Jeremy explained.

"Why don't I just use the Densifier to disguise myself as a ghost and sneak in there and get her out?" Zick suggested.

"Too risky," Timothy shaking his head in disapproval.

"But," Zick tried to argue.

"Please Zick this is a delicate situation. Not only are we trying to find a way to rescue Elena, but also to defeat the Wraiths once and for all." Timothy explained

"We believe that Elena is there with the Wraiths to find out their weaknesses. The fact that she has her cell phone and hasn't called for help is proof of that. So it is in our best interest to give her as much time as possible before rescuing her." Jeremy reasoned.

"Fine!" Zick grumbled. While he didn't agree with this decision, he will abide by it. For now at least.

* * *

At the Funeral Home, Elena felt refreshed after showering at the employee's washroom. (Provided for the grave diggers who used to work here.) Quickly changing to her new clean clothes, luckily Char had the foresight to get her an extra pair of shoes as well. After getting dressed Elena went to her study room. Turning on her computer, she scrolled through her notes about ghosts and witches, and comparing them to the books that Char has provided for her. While it deepen her knowledge and understanding of how the Wraiths came to be, it did not help her figure out why the Wraiths were dying. For some odd reason, Char and the other Wraiths were rather tight lipped about their condition, and just order her to perfect the Wraith formula. Promising to tell her more when the time comes. Leaving Elena flying blind.

"Okay Elena you can figure this out." Speaking out loud to herself hoping that she might stumble on the solution, while at the same time recording it on her cell phone for future reference. "What's the one thing that makes Wraiths different from ghosts?" Elena contemplated. "They are big jerks," she concluded. "No a lot of the Dark Phantoms I've seen are jerks as well." she corrected herself. "They can do magic, but they used to be witches so that's obvious." Elena started pacing around. Her instincts were telling her that the answer was right in front of her, but is just seemed out of her reach. Elena started grumbling in frustration, and that wasn't the only thing. Her stomach was grumbling as well. That's when she realized that she hadn't had anything to eat since her dinner party with Char. "Servants, I'm hungry. Get me something to eat. Chop, chop." Elena ordered clapping her hands. Even though she was the only one in the room, she knows that Char has placed Dark Phantoms to watch her constantly.

"We are not your servants, girl!" the Dark Phantom complained bringing Elena a plate with granola bars.

"And yet here you are bringing me food," Elena teased as she munched on her snacks. The Dark Phantom sneered as he went back to his post of spying on her through the wall. As she ate, she looked through her computer again; that's when she stumbled on a note saying that Dark Phantoms don't require nourishment, they only eat monsters to come back to life. 'Life,' Elena pondered as she took another bite of her granola bar. She recalled Char once saying that Wraiths are living ghosts. If that is the case, then what is the big difference between living and dead, besides the obvious. Looking at her half eaten granola bar it hit her. "That's it, all living things need food! So the Wraiths need to eat as well." Elena cheered holding up her granola bar in triumphant. "Ugh, but what does that prove. I've seen them eat monsters, vegetables, and dirty socks." Elena gagged. "But why would they eat that stuff? Even Emily ate normal food. This seems more like what they'd use to make potions." Elena realized. "Of course, their stomachs are like cauldrons. They only eat to make potions. That means they must be starving to death, and that's why they are dying." Elena quickly began logging this in her computer adding this to her lists of theories. "But then how are they still alive? Most beings can't go for a week without food, and Jeremy said they went on a rampage for a month before they disappeared. Most likely when they went they got sealed in their coffins." Seeing her theory being debunked, Elena decided to file this under unlikely and moved on to another possibility.

"Zick," Elena spoke into her cell phone. "For some reason the Wraiths seem to thing that he's the key to their survival. But why? What is it about Zick that makes him important to them?" Elena closed her eyes trying to remember everything she's learned. "Like the witches themselves, Dom blasts have almost no effect on the Wraiths. That is except when Zick uses the glasses I made for him. Glasses that can amplify his powers enough that he can hurt them." Elena felt kind of proud that her invention is helping him. "Wait is it hurting them?" Elena muttered to herself. Thinking back to all the times she witness Zick facing off against the Wraith, they did nothing to avoid getting hit by his Dom beam. In fact they seemed to be waiting for it. _"That boy has a unique Dom energy. Perhaps he might be the missing ingredient for my formula_." Elena recalled Char saying something to that effect. "Oh no, they need Zick's Dom energy, but for what?" Elena gulped. "And if they need Zick, then why did they kidnapped me? Why not take both of us when they had the chance?" It seems that the more answers she got it just raises more questions.

In his private chambers, Char watched Elena's progress through what according to the manual is called a security monitor. Since Char is not familiar with technology, he actually reads the manuals. Luckily all the manuals were filed away in the office that Char claimed as his own. While the monitor is not as effective as a crystal ball, he had to admit it does have a few advantages. One of which you don't have to squint your eyes to see what's going on, and it is so much easier to flip a switch than casting a spell. Of course he magically amplified it so that in addition to seeing what's going on, he can also hear what Elena is saying. So he pretty much heard her entire verbal log. "Yes my dear, you are close. Very close to figuring out the truth." Char chuckled. While he did share many of his secrets with Elena, he didn't tell her everything. One thing he's learned in all his years, is that it is always good to keep a few things to yourself. "Now the only question is what will you do with that knowledge?" Even though his life is literally on the line, Char couldn't help but be amused watching Elena struggle.


	9. Prelude to the Storm

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

"Here have some tea, it will calm your nerves." Greta offered pouring two cups for her guests. Across the small coffee table, the recently revived Harvey and Julie Potato who were still in a state of shock from what they have just learned. In the other room their nephew Lonzo was having fun jumping into Bombo's mouth, after a few seconds Bombo would spit him out, but as a result of him being inside Bombo's stomach Lonzo's face went all Picasso like again. Which of course was the boy's intent.

Julie tried to take a sip of her tea, but she had a bad case of the jitters that she shivered half the contents out of her cup. "I'm sorry," she nervously said wiping off the tea she spilled.

"Oh no, quite understandable." Greta smiled as she helped with the cleaning. "I know this is a bit of a surprise..."

"Surprise?" Harvey jumped in looking very annoyed. "Oh no, a surprise is winning the lottery, or hearing that my daughter got a full scholarship to college, or just finding out that our kids are eloping. But this...this goes beyond surprise." Harvey looking in the direction at the monsters who were now peeking around the corner. "This is a heart attack inducing shock to the system!" Harvey slamming him hand on the table. "I mean my daughter associating with these...these creatures! No offense." Harvey apologized to Timothy.

"I'd be lying if I said 'none taken' since I am a little offended." Timothy joked.

"I can't believe that there are monsters living next door," Julie quivered dropping sugar cubes nonstop into her tea, causing it to overflow again.

"We're not just next door, monsters live all around." Timothy informed them. The Potatos looked at the cat with nervous curiosity. "Monsters are everywhere, invisible to most humans. The few exceptions are Monster Keepers like Greta here and your daughter Elena." Timothy explained.

"Wait, you're saying that my daughter is a Monster Keeper. What is a Monster Keeper exactly?" Julie asked.

"Monster Keepers are a select group of humans with the gift of Sight. They allow temporary residence for exiled monsters in their homes." Timothy started to explain.

"Gift of Sight?" Julie wondered.

"Sight is a special power that allows one to see invisible creatures like monsters and ghosts." Greta explained.

"And my daughter has this power?" Julie asked despite already suspecting the answer.

"Yes," Greta confirmed.

"Hold up, you said exiled monsters? Why exactly were they exiled?" Harvey asked suspiciously.

"Um, well..." Timothy trying to find the right words.

"Because they didn't follow the rules of our society!" Jeremy said bluntly, causing Timothy to groan. Subtly was never really one of Jeremy's strong suits.

"You're saying that my daughter has been associating with criminals?" Harvey gasped in disbelief.

"Cool," Lonzo grinned, clearly excited by the fact the monster he's been playing with are criminals.

"They are not really criminals per say," Timothy said hoping to defuse the situation. "The Bursties are guilty of singing badly, Clak-Ritak for playing his violin horribly out of tune, Snyakutz Bu littering (he kept leaving pieces of himself all over the place), Ben-Talak is a compulsive liar, and finally Bombo kept skimped on his diet." Timothy explain while pointing to the corresponding monster.

"Are you serious?" Harvey said critically at their rap sheet.

"I know this may seem silly to humans, but make no mistake in the monster world these are very serious crimes." Timothy stressed. "And it wasn't for Monster Keepers like Greta, they would be homeless and in danger right now."

"Look this all very interesting, but does any this have anything to do with my daughter's kidnapping?" Harvey asked.

"We don't know," Timothy admitted. "Elena was kidnapped by a type of ghost called a Wraith, but for what reason we still don't know."

"First monsters and now you're telling us that ghosts are real!" Harvey moaned with disbelief.

"This is why we didn't want the police involved. This is not the sort of thing they can handle, but I promise you, we are doing everything in our power to bring Elena back." Timothy swore. Timothy could see the reluctance and uncertainty in their eyes. "I know that this is a lot to take in and that most humans can't handle all this."

"What are you saying?" Harvey wondered.

"We have a device called Hypno-disk. We use it to alter the memories of humans who have learned too much about the monster world." Timothy informed them.

"You mean people like us right?" Julie asked. Timothy nodded.

"But why tell us all of this if you're just going to erase our memories?" Harvey wondered.

"Because as Elena's parents, her family, I believe you have a right to know the truth, but if you can't handle the truth, well we can always alter your memories so that you simply think that you sent Elena off to visit family out of town. The decision is yours." Timothy explained.

The Potatos looked at each other with uncertainty. While they want to know the truth about what their daughter is doing; this may be more truth than they can handle at the moment. "I thank you for sharing all of this with us Mr. Cat, and to be honest while I'd prefer to know the truth to what my daughter is getting into..." Julie paused unable to finish her sentence.

"You don't think you can go on knowing that there may be an invisible monster standing right in front of you," Timothy finished for her. Julie nodded, while Harvey seem a little more hesitant.

"Alright then, Bombo call Zick. Tell him we need the Hypno-disk." Timothy ordered.

"Oh you mean Elena's boyfriend," Lonzo teased. "He left already, said he had to check up on some ghost business."

"Oh no, please tell me he didn't have an egg shaped device did he?" Timothy asked fearfully.

"Yup, used it to turn invisible." Lonzo confirmed.

"I suppose I should be surprised by that." Timothy groaned.

"Why what did he take?" Greta asked.

"He took the Densifier, a device that can alter the density of any object; and at it's lowest setting, it can even make one look like a ghost." Timothy explained.

"But why would Zick take that?" Bombo asked.

"Because against my better judgement he's going after Elena," Timothy answered.

* * *

Meanwhile outside the old cemetery, Zick was scouting around. Just as the other monsters informed him there were a lot of Dark Phantoms around. Reaching into his pocket, he brought out the Densifier. While he did initially agree to wait for the other Tutors and Tamers to come up with a plan to rescue Elena; seeing her parents so distraught over her disappearance was enough move him to action. Especially since he knows that if the situation was reversed, Elena wouldn't hesitate to help him despite his protest. Like she always has in the past.

Activating the Densifier, Zick set it so that he would look like a Dark Phantom. Taking a deep breath, Zick mentally prepared himself as he entered the cemetery. As he'd hoped, none of the Dark Phantoms noticed or cared that there was an extra ghost among their ranks. "Hey you, haven't seen you around here before." one of the Dark Phantoms said pointing to Zick.

"Um yeah, I heard that this is the place to get some good monster chow." Zick said.

"Well you've come to the right place," the Phantom grinned. He guided Zick over to where several Phantoms were feasting on a monster. Judging by the remains, Zick guesses it must have been a Gorka. This is kind of a good news bad news for Zick. The good news is that Gorkas are one of the most dangerous monsters around, so Zick doesn't really mind seeing them get eaten. Bad news, if the Wraiths are capable of capturing Gorkas, that proves how powerful they really are. "Here you want a bite?" the Phantom inviting Zick in.

Once again Zick finds himself in a Catch 22. On one hand he really didn't want to eat a monster, but on the other hand if he doesn't then he risks blowing his cover and may never get another chance to rescue Elena. "Uh thanks," Zick cringed as he reached for the piece of monster flesh. Zick decided that right now rescuing Elena takes priority, even if it means betraying his morals and his stomach.

"Psych," the Phantom laughed pulling the monster meat back. "If you want a taste, you have to earn it. Go to the funeral home for your assignments." the Phantom directed.

"Um sure whatever." Zick pretended to sulk. Truthfully he was happy that he didn't have to eat the monster meat. Zick made his way to the funeral home, hiding in the shadows. Even though he didn't really need to sneak around, old habits die hard. Though it did give him a change to phase through tombstones. Once he reached the funeral home he saw Char and the other Wraiths flying off with a group of Dark Phantoms. "Looks like this is my chance," Zick whispered to himself. Phasing through the walls, Zick carefully searched around. Ironically he wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into another ghost.

"Hey watch it!" the Phantom scolded.

"Sorry man," Zick apologized.

"Well it's about time, you were suppose to be here ten minutes ago!" the Phantom complained.

"I was?" Zick said nervously.

"Yeah, you are my relief right?" the Phantom interrogated.

"Relief?" Zick puzzled.

"You know next to watch over that stupid girl." the Phantom clarified since the thought that Zick didn't know what relief meant.

"Girl! Elena!" Zick yelped. "I mean, yeah I'm your relief." Zick said.

"Finally," the Phantom said. "I hope they don't eat all the monsters before I get there."

After the Phantom flew off, Zick peeked inside the room. Sure enough his best friend was inside, working on some kind of potion. "Elena," Zick whispered to her.

"Look I'm working as fast as I can," Elena complained.

"Elena, it's me." Zick said turning off the Densifier.

"Zick!" Elena squealed giving him a hug.

"I'm glad to see you too," Zick sighed hugging her as well. "Come on we've got to get out of here," he said desperately.

"No Zick, I can't just leave yet." Elena insisted.

"Wait what?" Zick stuttered in confusion.

"Come here," Elena guided him to her computer and showed some of the data she's collected about the Wraiths. "You see, Char asked me to do some research on the Wraiths."

"Why would Char ask you to do something like that?" Zick wondered.

"What, you think I can't do it?" Elena challenged him thinking that he's underestimating her intelligence yet again.

"No, it's not that, it's just that it's suspicious that's all." Zick tried to explain. While Zick would never doubt Elena's intelligence, he does question the motives of his enemies.

Elena scowled at him, but immediately brushed it aside. "Listen whatever it was that turned Char and the others into Wraiths is unstable, they're dying." Elena explained.

"And that's a problem why?" Zick asked.

"Holy spit, can you please try using your head for once." Elena retorted pressing her finger on Zick's forehead. "If they think I'm the key to their survival, do you really believe they are just going to let me escape?"

"No," Zick had to agree with her on that.

"Exactly, so they have to think I'm helping them, that is until I find a way to stop them." Elena reasoned.

"But why would they think you have the solution to their problem?" Zick asked.

"Char said that they formula he used was incomplete and that he believes that I can help perfect it for him." Elena explained.

"So any ideas on that?" Zick asked.

"Well nothing concrete but I think you might have something to do with it," Elena answered as she opened a different file on her computer. "You see a few days ago, Char once told me that your Dom energy is unique and that it might be the missing ingredient to make him truly immortal. I think they are trying to find a way to get your Dom energy."

Looking back on his previous battles, it did almost seemed like Char and the other Wraiths wanted to get hit by Zick's Dom beams. Of course back then he was caught in the heat of battle that he didn't notice. "But if they wanted by my power, then why kidnap you, why not me?" Zick wondered.

"Probably because they don't have a Devourer like Magnacat did," Elena suggested. Zick shuttered at the mere mention of the Devourer, a device the Gorkas used to drain him of his Dom energy stripping him of all his powers. Thankfully he was able to gain his powers back; but that was still a traumatic moment for him, especially since at the same time Elena was given the gift of Sight, so she could see what he couldn't.

"Because you would have been a temporary solution my young Tamer," Char said as he phased through the wall.

"CHAR!" the kids yelled getting into a defensive position.

"It would seem that I came back right on time. Now I have both of you." Char gloated.

"Now I get it, Elena was just bait so that you can trap me." Zick accused moving in front of Elena to protect her.

"Really child, you are not paying attention. While it is true that your Dom energy can, how would you kids put it, 'recharge my batteries'. I have little interest in short term solutions. I prefer more permanent ones." Char said looking at Elena who seemed rather puzzled by all of this. "You see my dear, you are actually closer to the truth that you suspected." Char floated over to her computer and opened the file on Wraith's stomachs. "Just as you've surmised our stomachs don't digest food. It simply takes what we eat and uses it to make potions. Ergo, we are starving to death."

"But you Wraiths have been around for centuries. How could you have gone on for so long without eating?" Zick asked curiously.

"We do not require food, we continue to exist thanks to our Mystical essence," Char explained.

"Mystical essence?" the kids repeated.

"You know, Mana, Aura, Ether, Charka, Chi, Dom, Bioelectricity. You humans have so many names for it, but basically it's the life energy that allows us Witches to perform magic. Anyway after becoming ghostlike, we discovered that our essence became twice as strong than when we were alive. This allowed us to continue existing for a month without the need for food. But we soon learned that our essence is limited and we no longer had the means to replenish it. Once our power was drained we simply turn to dust. I lost several of my brothers because of that and that is not a fate I desire." Char cried. "For a long time I feared that my plight was hopeless, that is until I encountered a young Tamer whose special glasses altered his Dom energy, revitalizing me."

"My glasses did that?" Elena shocked to hear that.

"Wait I thought that the glasses only enhanced my powers," Zick wondered.

"Light filtration!" Elena blurted out. Zick looked at her in confusion. "You know how sunglasses filter light so that so that you don't get blinded by the sun. My glasses must also filter out your Dom energy leaving behind the energy that the Wraiths need to survive." Elena explained.

"Indeed, without that your Dom energy would have been completely useless to me. It is that innovative thinking that has me believe that you are the one to help us." Char applauded. Elena couldn't help but blush with pride at that compliment.

Zick pulled the sunglasses out of his pocket. "Well if that is the case, then maybe I should just destroy these and let you guys starve to death!" Zick threatening to break his glasses.

"Are you so certain you want to do that young Tamer?" Char laughed. "Aren't you the least bit concerned about the fate of your friend?"

"I'll protect Elena," Zick swore.

"Even from a cursed eternal life of starvation?" Char challenged as he casts a spell on the wall causing it to disappear. Elena and Zick stared in shock that the room adjacent to the one they were in had a cauldron as well, but the room only had a few ingredients.

"What are you up to?" Zick demanded.

"I'm certain that she knows," Char smiled.

Elena started listing a few of the ingredients in the room before she realized what they are used for. "Those are the ingredients for your Wraith potion!"

"I was planning on using it once you perfected it, but even in this uncompleted state it can still turn dear sweet Elena into a Wraith. Unfortunately as a mere human her essence would only last a few days, a week tops. Luckily for her, her beloved Tamer would be more than happy to feed her with his altered Dom energy. That is unless he breaks his glasses." Char dared, scooping out a handful of the potion getting ready to use it on Elena.

Zick took a moment to analyze the situation. While he is confident that he could protect Elena from a direct attack, Char is a ghost or rather ghostlike, plus he has all the magic of a witch. That means that Char has almost an unlimited number of options at his disposal, most of which would be difficult if not impossible to counter. Zick hated to admit it, but Char got him cornered. "Alright you win," Zick conceded putting his sunglasses down.

"Excellent," Char grinned as he magically replaced the wall. "Now my dear if you'd be so kind as to continue your work. As for you boy."

"Wait you'd promise that you wouldn't hurt him!" Elena pleaded.

"I won't do anything to your precious Tamer. I just need him to help a friend of mine." Char smiled picking up the glasses.

"It's alright Elena. He won't do anything to me just yet. Not when I'm the only food source he's got." Zick assured her. So Elena reluctantly let Zick go.

* * *

Char led Zick down to the basement. "As much as I would prefer not to do this, you're presence here complicates things young Tamer." Char said.

"What did I do?" Zick mocked.

"Don't toy with me boy. I didn't want to say anything in front of Elena, but since you found our hideout that means pretty soon I should be expecting a visit from the other Tamers as well." Char reasoned.

"I came here on my own," Zick insisted.

"That I believe. Your fondness for your friend is admirable, foolish but admirable. Never the less, I'm fairly certain that you informed your companions about this place, and that they will be raiding here pretty soon." Char suspected. Zick's silence pretty much confirmed his suspicions. "That is why I need you to awaken and to 'feed' him." Char pointed to Bruticus coffin.

"Who's in there?" Zick asked.

"My military specialist, and second in command, and the most unruly and disobedient person I've ever met." Char spat. "Personally I'd rather keep him buried here, but desperate measures and all that." Char then handed Zick the glasses and gestured him to proceed. Zick reluctantly used his Dom blasts to destroy the seal. As the coffin opened, a giant figure came crawling out.

"Who dares awakens me?" Bruticus demanded in a deep voice.

"I dare," Char answered.

Outside, Tamers and Tutors were surrounding the old cemetery. Arming themselves with Elena's glasses and Dom Staffs for the upcoming battle.


	10. Battle with Puppets

_**I DO NOT OWN MONSTER ALLERGY**_

All the Tamers, after receiving an emergency call, gathered at the Zick residence. "We're here Jeremy. What happened?" the Senior Tamers asked.

"Hey where's Zick?" Lay asked after noticing that he's not around.

"He's just late again. You know he's not very punctual." Teddy joked.

"But this is his house, if anything he should already be here." Lay pointed out.

"Yes, well this is one of the reasons we all called you here." Jeremy announced. "That boy has foolishly gone solo to try and rescue Elena." The room became very quiet after that. It's no secret to anyone how protective Zick is about Elena, no matter how much he always denied having any sort of feelings for her. So it came as no surprise to hear that he's gone off save her.

"So what do we do now?" the Tamers asked.

"Isn't if obvious? We do our duty." Jeremy said as Greta passed out the special sunglasses and Dom Staffs to the Tamers.

"Whoa we're not pulling any punches this time our we," Bobby gulped checking out their arsenal. Considering how the both the glasses and the staffs enhances their Dom powers, using both at the same time is just insane to the point of overkill.

"According to our studies, it's not just the fact that Elena's sunglasses enhances your Dom powers, but it seems to alter it in a way that effects the Wraiths. That's why we're hoping that by combining that with the Dom Staffs, it might give us the edge we're looking for." Timothy explained.

"Well what are we waiting for? I want to go bust some ghosts." Teddy said imitating the Ghostbusters getting all riled up to go.

"Alright here's the plan. The Senior Tamers will be taking positions all around the cemetery. You are to engage the Dark Phantoms festering around the graves. Which will hopefully draw the Wraiths out." Jeremy instructed bringing out a map of the old cemetery.

"So we're the distraction got it," Zob clarified.

"The young Tamers will take the Flyvans and strike from above. Your mission is to try and infiltrate the funeral home here and rescue Zick and Elena." Jeremy continued pointing to the funeral home at the center of the cemetery.

"So we're the rescue team huh, that's cool." Teddy said rather nonchalantly, making it hard to tell if he was happy that he was going in to help rescue his friends or bummed out that he wasn't going to be part of the main attack force.

"If there are no questions, then let's get moving." Jeremy ordered rallying the troops. The Tamers and the Tutors quickly arrived at the old cemetery, each taking their positions ready to enact Jeremy's plan.

* * *

 **BOOOOM!**

"What is that?" Char demanded, hearing the sounds of explosions all the way up to the funeral home.

"Boss, we are under attack!" a Dark Phantom reported.

"Tell me where is the attack coming from?" Bruticus asked calmly.

"All around us!" the Phantom panicked.

Bruticus vomited a yellow powder and threw it on the walls, turning them transparent. This allowed him to see all around, and just as the Phantom said, they were being attacked at all sides. "Surrounding us to minimize our chance of escape. Clever." Bruticus observed. Taking a moment to analyze the enemy's movements.

The Tamer's attack on the cemetery was brutal. Most of the senior Tamers have set their Dom Staffs to fire a spread beam to try and dissolve as many ghosts as possible. The Dark Phantoms tried their best to retaliate; but powerful as they are, they are not soldiers. Most were just common citizens before they died and are not used to combat. However they are still ghosts and had abilities that made them more than a match for the Tamers. Plus there are a lot of them. Hundreds of Dark Phantoms came in droves, with Char's promise to get them monsters. Not only that, it is common knowledge among ghosts that Tamers are the most delicious monsters to eat; causing them to fight even more fiercely just to get a taste.

Zob was positioned at the western entrance of the cemetery, blasting at any ghosts he saw floating around. While he would much rather be part of the rescue team to save his son, he had faith that the others will pull through. He only wished he had the same confidence about himself at the moment. Zob Zick may be one of the most recognized Tamers, famed for trapping several dangerous monsters as well as exposing Hector Sinistro and other the Dark Tamers, but even he doesn't stand much of a chance against a swarm of Dark Phantoms! Blasting at the Phantoms flying in front of him, he missed the ones who were phasing out of the ground for a sneak attack. These Phantoms then fired a red web-like substance at Zob's legs causing him to lose his balance. The rest of the Phantoms started moving in when a second Dom beam came out of nowhere vaporizing the ghosts.

"Zob are you alright?" Terrence asked checking on his old friend.

"I'm fine," Zob replied using his Dom beam to break free of the Phantom's web. "Wow, me being rescued by you. That's a first." Zob joked since it's usually the other way around. "But what are you doing here? Weren't you suppose to guard the other entrance?" Zob asked.

"Change of plans. It seems that the Phantoms are concentrating their attacks only on certain areas. Guess they're trying to take us out one at a time. Anyway Lardine sent me here to reinforce you." Terrence explained.

"Divide and Conquer, only we divided ourselves." Zob cursed. Whoever they were up against definitely knew his stuff. By focusing their forces on specific targets, the Wraiths can accomplish one of two objectives: 1) the Dark Phantoms could easily overwhelmed and defeat the Tamers in that area, or 2) Force the other Tamers to abandoned their posts to aid the Tamers under attack. Either way the Wraiths will have a clear exit strategy if the Tamers should make their way to the Funeral home. Not to mention severely weakening the Tamer's assault. Right now the adults biggest concern was if their kids are going to be alright.

* * *

High above the battle, the young Tamers on their Flyvans watched at the battle commencing down below. "Man I wish I was there," Teddy complained.

"Why so you can show everyone how quickly you can get your butt kicked?" Bobby teased, causing Teddy to scowl at him.

"Enough guys," Lay scolded. "We have to be ready."

"We're all ready," the other kids confirmed.

"Alright let's do this," Lay said as she took a deep breath. Knowing that giant monster birds swooping down might be a bit conspicuous, the Tamers opted instead to go skydiving instead. Only instead of parachutes they're using their teleskates. Since they have no idea what awaits them inside, they are just going to teleport on to the roof and then sneak in from there.

"Hey Teddy looks like all that practice you had falling off the Flyvans is going to pay off." Bobby laughed as he jumped from his Flyvan.

"Hey I never fell off!" Teddy objected jumping after him.

"Do you guys even know what covert means?" Lay groaned as she jumped off.

As the Tamers dropped from the sky, they immediately started putting on their serious faces. Yes kids they may be, but they are professional enough to know when it is time to stop joking around. The Tamers fell for what felt like hours even though it was just seconds. As they approached the funeral home, they had to time their teleportation just right. The plan calls for them to teleport as close enough to the roof as possible so that they don't make too much noise when they land. Of course it's doubtful that anyone could hear them with all the explosions and the Dom beams firing about, but it pays to be safe. All of the Tamer kids landed safely and relatively quietly on the roof. Quickly removing their teleskates, Lay then silently used hand signals to remind everyone that this is a stealth rescue mission. All nodding affirmative before proceeding to sneak inside using the attic window. Only to find Char and 3 other Wraiths waiting for them!

"Looks like you were right brother," Char acknowledged.

"Yes, I figured that this attack was merely a diversion. But I must admit I didn't expect them to come in from above." Bruticus confessed.

"That is because you did not know that they have built flying machines in this era. I guess it was just plain luck that you wanted your command center up here in the attic." Char commented. Bruticus chuckled in amusement, he always liked living at the highest point so that he could look down on people. Plus it gave him an excellent vantage point to observe the battle. After he magically made the walls of the attic transparent.

"SCATTER!" Lay ordered seeing as how the plan has already failed. The Tamers quickly ran off in different directions! Ducking behind old boxes and anything else they could use for cover. While at the same time putting on their special sunglasses.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** The young Tamers all fired their Dom beams straight at the Wraiths. While their Dom energy is quite as 'energetic' as Zick's it still gave them some essence. So Char, Drak, and Vex and flung back pretending that the beams effected them, so that they would fire more at them. Bruticus however, unaware of this ruse stood this ground. Which still gave the same results.

As the young Tamers blasted at the Wraiths, Lay turned to Teddy and Bobby. "Go, find Zick and Elena, we'll hold them off!" Lay ordered still blasting Bruticus. Teddy and Bobby hesitated for a second, not wanting to leave Lay and the other young Tamers behind, but they both knew and understood that rescuing Zick might be the turning point in this battle.

Making a mad dash to the stairs, Teddy and Bobby made it the next floor. "So where to?" Teddy asked. As much as it pains him to admit it, Bobby is smarter than him.

 ***SIGHT DOM*** Bobby using his link with his friends, he could see that Elena and Zick were in the same room not far from them. "They are on the first floor, that way." Bobby informed him.

"Okay then, let's go." Teddy was about to take the lead when he saw several Dark Phantoms closing in on them.

"What now?" Bobby asked firing on the Phantoms.

"You said that they were on the first floor?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah," Bobby confirmed getting ready to fight the ghosts.

"Well then, time to take the express elevator." Teddy grinned. Bobby grinning as well. Both Tamers fired their Dom beams floor right where they were standing.

Down in Elena's office, she and Zick were working on gathering as much information as they can into her computer. While trying to ignore the rucks outside. "Holy spit, things are getting crazy out there." Elena commented after hearing another explosion.

"Yeah I'm betting that our friends will soon be dropping by," Zick added. Right on cue, Bobby and Teddy came crashing down the ceiling.

"Holy spit!...No that's too easy." Elena was about to make a 'dropping in' joke, but decided against it.

"Bobby, Teddy, are you alright?" Zick asked helping his friends/rivals up.

"Yeah, we okay." Teddy groaned. "Hey we found you. That was easy."

"You call that easy?" Bobby retorted.

"Hey I didn't see you coming up with ideas." Teddy shot back.

"Any way we got to get out of here." Bobby reminded everyone.

"I can't just leave yet, I still need to record all this data." Elena objected trying to type faster on her computer.

"Hey it's those dusty old books or you life Potato!" Teddy retorted.

"Oh yeah, well these dusty old books may have the key to defeating the Wraiths!" Elena argued.

"Yeah, well if we don't get out of here, like right now, all that information you gathered will be pretty much useless." Teddy pointed out.

"Fine," Elena conceded. "Just give me a few minutes," she requested as she took her cell phone and started taking quick pictures of the scrolls and a few pages from some of the bigger books. All the while Zick and the other boys were keeping lookout.

"Times up Elena!" Zick said grabbing Elena's arm after seeing more Phantoms arriving.

"Hey!" Elena yelped barely able to press save on her laptop. Not giving her any time to object, the Tamers began dragging her along all the way to the main entrance. Blasting any Phantoms that came up in their way.

As the group ran out of the funeral home, they were joined by Timothy and Jeremy who were running up the road. "Elena, it's good to see you again," Timothy cried.

"Timothy!" Elena smiled.

"I see you accomplished your mission, well done." Jeremy said to the Tamers. "But where are the others?" Just then Lay and the other young Tamers who jumped dramatically out of the window, landing practically on top of Jeremy.

"Elena, you're safe!" Lay smiled giving Elena a hug. While the two girls share a friendly rivalry of getting the boy's attention, they do enjoy each other's company since they are pretty much the only girls in monster school. The other young Tamers also greeted Elena warmly.

"Glad to see you too," Elena said. "All of you," she added to all the other Tamers. Unfortunately their happy reunion was cut short as Char and the other Wraiths phased through the walls in pursuit of the Tamers. Bruticus and the others looked like they were about to attack but Char gestured them to stand down.

"Elena, what are you doing? You should be back in the library continuing your research." Char said rather politely.

"Sorry wrinkles, but she's coming home with us!" the all Tamers said in defiance circling around Elena. With Jeremy and Timothy jumping in front of them as well. Anyone who hasn't already were putting on their sunglasses.

"Wait stop! It's a trick!" Elena tried to warn them but it was too late.

 ***ENERGY DOM*** The Tamers and Tutors all fired at full strength, enhanced by the sunglasses at the Wraiths. The Wraiths retaliated by firing some mystical beams of their own, but were careful not to hit Elena or Zick.

"You think you ghosts are so cool flying up there, well I can do that too!" Teddy said as he jumped into the air, hovering above the Wraiths while shooting a duel Dom beam at Vex and Drak.

"Wow how is Teddy doing that?" Zick wondered clearly impressed seeing his friend flying like that.

"Geez Zick if you had paid attention in class you'd know about Dom energy gesture manipulation." Jeremy lectured.

"Well I would if the teachers weren't so boring," Zick defended. "But wait, what's energy gesture manipulation?" he asked.

"As you know, a Tamer can use gestures to manipulate and control monsters," Jeremy started to explain.

"I know that," Zick interrupted.

"Yes well what you obviously don't know is that gestures can also be used to control your own Dom energy for various other abilities such as hovering, size alterations, and illusions." Jeremy explained.

"I sure wish you guys told me about that earlier. Those could have come in really handy in some tough situations." Zick grumbled.

"You are still a beginner, those are for more advanced Tamers. In fact I'm curious to know how Teddy even learned how to hover?" Jeremy wondered suspiciously.

"Wait you said I can manipulate my own Dom energy with my gestures?" Zick asked, his eyes widening with realization.

"Yes," Jeremy nodded. "What are you getting at?" he asked worrisome.

"Just a hunch," Zick said as he ran towards Char. By this point in the battle the Wraiths have all but defeated the Young Tamers. Most were either laying on the ground or barely standing in a final show of defiance. "Alright Char, this ends now!" Zick declared.

"Oh and what are you going to do against me?" Char mused.

 ***GESTURE DOM*** Zick started waving his hands trying to get Char to move. Nothing happened. "Zick what are you doing?" the other Tamers wondered. While the Wraiths were laughing at his efforts.

"I've had enough of this," Bruticus said getting impatient, ready to blast the boy. Char was about to stop him, since Zick is still vital to his plans, but just then Bruticus froze midway! "What is going on?" Bruticus demanded. "I can't control myself!" he said doing a bunch of random movements. Char tried to examine him only to find that he lost control of himself as well.

"What's wrong, a little stuck?" Zick mocked as he started to move Char and Bruticus around like puppets.

"How is this possible, we're not monsters?" Char demanded still unable to move on his own.

"True my power usually only works on monsters, and doesn't really work on witches or ghosts; but it is our Dom energy that you have been feeding on and now coursing through your veins, and that is something we can control." Zick said loudly so that his friends can hear him. Hearing this the other Tamers started using their Gesture Dom as well. Controlling and manipulating the Dom energy that the Wraiths have been absorbing. The very energy that was suppose to be their salvation, is now being used to humiliate them.

"Release us or I will destroy you!" Char demanded.

"You and what army?" Teddy mocked. Only to see the Dark Phantoms gathering around them. "Oh that army," Teddy gulped. This prompted Bobby to slap him across the head.

"Help us!" Char ordered. The Dark Phantoms were about to swarm in when multiple Dom beams came flying in from all directions. The Senior Tamers as well as the Tutors have finally broken through the ghost's ranks and made it to the funeral home. Seeing the tide of the battle turning against them, the Phantoms decided to cut their losses and fly away, leaving the Wraiths at the mercy of the Tamers and Tutors.

"Well done everyone," Jeremy praised.

"Yes but what are going to do with them?" Timothy asked. "It's not like we have a Dom box for Wraiths. Do we?"

"No artificial as they are, they are still ghosts and are impossible to contain," Jeremy reiterated.

"Yeah well you can't expect us to hold them like this forever," the young Tamers complained still holding the Wraiths in with their Gesture Dom. Which is getting pretty exhausting for them.

"How about the coffins? The ones that kept them imprisoned for 1000 years." Elena suggested. The Tutors considered it. Sure the seals were destroyed, but that should be a quick fix; and with a little extra work, they could make it more permanent.

Hearing this, Vex started going berserk. "Never! I will never go back to dreamless sleep!" she sputtered releasing the Dom energy she absorbed so that she could break free of their hold. Once free she started to attack the Tamers again. The attack caused all the Tamers to break their hold on the Wraiths allowing the rest of them to escape.

"Vex cease, if you drain all your power you will..." Char's warning came too late as Vex's body suddenly started to petrify and then crumbled into dust. Knowing that there will be time to mourn the lost of his sister, Char casts a teleportation spell so that he and his remaining brothers could escape.

"Oh no, they got away again," Elena sighed.

"It's alright Elena now that your safe. Plus with all that information you found for us, we will now be able to come up with a better means of combating them next time. All thanks to you." Jeremy acknowledges.

"So does that mean I get my Monster Keeper license now?" Elena asked.

"Absolutely not!" Jeremy rejected. "You may have done admirable work here, but there are still rules and regulations"

"We can give you Bombolo back, but you still need a lot of training before you can become a full Keeper." Timothy interjected "Right?" directing the question to Jeremy.

"Right," Jeremy agreed.

"Thank you," Elena squealed glad to have her status back.

"Now let's all go home, you have a lot of explaining to do to your parents." Timothy informed her.

"My parents!" Elena gulped.

* * *

Later at the Barrymore house. Elena was shocked to find out that her parents have learned about the monster world and her place in it. While they are hesitant to allow their daughter to continue as a Monster Keeper in training, they agreed to respect her choice. Mainly because since they don't have the power of sight, they really can't do anything to keep the monsters away from Elena or keep their daughter away from monsters since she's been a fan of the supernatural ever since she was a child.

Even more shocking was that Elena learned that her parents agreed to have their memories altered by the Hypno-disk. Since they can't mentally handle the reality that there are invisible monsters everywhere. So come tomorrow, they will believe that they sent Elena to her aunts for family reasons. But until then, they were going to party with the monsters to celebrate Elena's return.

As they all celebrated their victory, one stepped outside needing a little peace and quiet. The young Tamer Zick looked up at the stars. His mind troubled by what he has learned while held captive by the Wraiths. "Is something wrong Zick?" a friendly voice asked.

"Hey Timothy," Zick greeted petting the monster disguised as a cat. Even though he knows fully well that Timothy hates being treated as a mere cat. Which is kind of the root of his problem. "I was just thinking of things."

"That is normal for a boy of your age," Timothy joked.

"Am I a boy?" Zick pondered. Timothy looked at him curiously. "When I was trapped with Elena, she told me a few things that she learned. She said that Tamers are really monsters disguised as humans just like how Tutors are disguised as cats. Is that true?" Zick asked.

Timothy took a long moment before answering. "Yes and no," the old Tutor responded.

"Great I'm getting one of those kind of answers," Zick complained. He really hates it when adults try to be cryptic.

"Actually what I mean is 'yes' Tamers are a class of monsters, and 'no' you are not disguised as human." Timothy clarified.

"Huh?" Zick getting all confused.

"Zick in the short time you've been a Tamer, you've seen monsters of all shape and sizes. Do you really think it's beyond reason that there might actually be a monster that resembles a human?" Timothy asked.

"So you're saying that I am a monster, but a monster that just happens to naturally look like a human." Zick trying to wrap his head around that concept. Timothy nodded. "Phew, that's great. I was afraid I might be some slimy tentacle creature." Zick breathing a sigh of relief. "Thanks Timothy." Zick smiled though it still seemed that something was bothering him.

"No problem. I'm always here if you need someone to talk to." Timothy reassured him. "Oh an one more thing. You know your mother is a Monster Keeper, and like all Monster Keepers she is human."

"Okay?" Zick feeling confused to why Timothy is bringing this up.

"Just wanted to let you know that you and Elena are fully compatible," Timothy teased.

"Tha-that has nothing to do with it!" Zick blushed. Timothy snickered as he rejoined the party leaving Zick alone with his thoughts again. Zick started pacing around, sputtering angrily at Timothy for even suggesting that's what's bothering him. Still he had to admit learning that he is pretty much human did alleviate a lot of his anxieties. Especially that part he said about him and Elena. Feeling better, Zick returned to the party.

* * *

EPILOGUE

Elena smiled as she laid in her bed. Even though she was only held captive for a few days, it felt like an eternity. Her parents, after having their memory altered were sleeping peacefully in their own room with the twins. Lonzo and his mother, who also had to have her memories altered to explain why they came for a visit, were sleeping in the guest room. Bombolo was nestled snugly in his basket with Purrcy and Puffy sleeping next to him. They really missed the little monster when Elena lost her Keeper status. Believing that it was all over, Elena allowed her self to relax and drift off to sleep...

"Hello my dear," Char's voice came from the window. Jumping out of bed, Elena rushed to the window. Sure enough the Lord of the Wraiths was hovering outside just like when he kidnapped her.

"What are you doing here?" Elena spat.

"I just came to give you my offer again. Join me and together we will find true immortality." Char extended his hand.

"Sorry not interested," Elena shook her head.

"No matter, you've already helped me more than you can ever know. I just felt like you can still be of greater use to me. Maybe I'll ask you again when you are at your deathbed." Char mocked.

"Don't hold your breath. I gave all my research to the Tutors so I'm sure they'll find a way to defeat you." Elena said confidently. Char smiled in amusement taking her challenge before flying off. As he left, Elena couldn't help but worry about what Char had said about her helping him.

* * *

Char flew to Big Burg City where his brothers were waiting for him. "Well is the girl coming?" Drak asked.

"She refused," Char answered.

"Figures, yet another one of your brilliant plans fails." Bruticus laughed. "Not only that, we lost Vex. If I was in charge"

"We all would have met Vex's fate." Char interjected.

"But Char, now that the Tamers know of our weaknesses we may yet suffer Vex's fate." Drak gulped.

"Oh brothers of little faith, do you honest believe that I was placing all our hopes on those two children?" Char laughed. "While they were busy learning our secrets, I was working on learning theirs; and I believe I found the key to our salvation." Char proclaimed leading them to the Pyramid Inc. main building. Phasing through the walls, the Wraiths found themselves in what looked like a secret lab. Though it looked like no one has been in there for years. "Elena is a very organized girl. After I learned her passwords for her laptop, I found her records of all the adventures she had with the Tamers. One such entries described a fascinating machine called the Devourer." Char directed their attention to the machine. "The Gorkas created this device to completely drain the Dom energy out the Tamers, and the first Tamer they used it on was our own Zick." Char pressed one of the buttons to activate the machine. "This device still have some of Zick's energy in it, and when we run it through this." Char pulled out a small piece of glass.

"What is that?" Bruticus wondered.

"A shard of the lenses that they lost during our raid on Bibbur-Si," Char explained as he inserted lens into the Devourer. Zick's Dom energy then channeled into the lens and shot out hitting Bruticus.

"Incredible, I can feel the power revitalizing me!" Bruticus laughed.

"With this device, we don't need the Tamers to blast us. We can just drain them dry and it can feed us for years." Drak figured.

"That is one possibility, but you are not seeing the full potential here." Char criticized. "Science and technology is opening up more doors than we ever thought possible with just magic alone. Yes this device can allow us to drain the Tamers of their powers, but it can also used to generate our own powers. Think of it, creating an unlimited supply of essence without having to deal with those pesky Tamers for it." Char envisioned.

"Unfortunately there are two problems with your goals," a mysterious voice said. The Wraiths turned around to see a Gorka along with a team of Androgorkas. "First off it's going to take time, research, and whole lot of money to make the adjustments to the Devourer that you desire. None of which we have. The second problem, that machine belongs to Magnacat and we will not be giving it up so easily." the Gorka warned.

Bruticus was getting prep up for a fight but Char told him to stand down. "Ah Vizioquod, I see you got my message." Char greeted. "I am hoping that we can work out some sort of deal."

"Such as?" Vizioquod asked.

Char pulled out a small bag, he then removed the shrinking spell as he dropped it to the floor. The bag in its full size burst open upon hitting the floor revealing several bars of gold and jewels. "I believe you said something about money? How about this for a start?" Char offered.

"Where did you get all that?" Vizioquod drooling at the treasure in front of him. Drak and Bruticus both looked at Char wondering the same thing themselves.

"Well ever since the Anguane abandoned the Fair, their treasures were ripe for the taking. I have their entire fortune in my pocket." Char bragged.

"So this explains what you've been doing." Drak figured.

"That and more," Char smiled as he pulled out several papers. Most of which were documents of him purchasing Pyramid Inc. "So do we have a deal?" he asked Vizioquod.

Normally Vizioquod wouldn't sell, but the company has been bankrupt for quite some time now. The only reason no one has bought them out yet was because he's been using his mind control to get rid of potential buyers as well as keeping the banks from foreclosing; but even he knew that he couldn't keep this up for very long. "Alright, but under one condition. We'll help you build your device, in exchange you help us free our master Magnacat. Deal?" Vizioquod offered.

"Deal," Char agreed shaking Vizioquod's hand. With that the two signed the contract naming Char the head CEO.

"So what's the plan to destroy the Tamers?" Vizioquod asked.

"For now we do nothing," Char said getting questionable looks from everyone. "We don't have the time nor the resources to combat the Tamers. However if we leave them and their monsters alone, they will leave us alone. Giving us time to build our power base. Once we are secure that, then we will strike. Not a moment before or after."

"That might actually work," Vizioquod commented. Magnacat nearly brought them all to ruin rushing his plans to destroy the Tamers and Bibbur-Si. Perhaps a more careful approach might produce a more favorable outcome.

"Excellent plan Char," the Wraiths applauded.

"Don't call me Char," Char said magically giving himself a human disguise of a middle age man with black hair. "Call me Charlie Worth, the new president of Pyramid Inc."

 _ **Fin**_


End file.
